Animorphs - The Deliverance
by Arnarkusaga
Summary: I'm going to be ignoring the Elimist, Crayak, and the Helmacrons because I find that story arc ridiculous. I'm also going to be working from book 23, the last book that Applegate wrote on her own (other than 24, with the Helmacrons, and 26, part of the Elimist/Crayak story arc) and ignoring the rest, especially 54 (the abomination). Please review. More chapters coming.
1. Author's Note

Author's Note

Animorphs was the first chapter book series I ever read as a child. Harry Potter, The Egypt Game, the Lord of the Rings, before all those, I was thoroughly engrossed in these books. I began reading them at age twelve and continued to read them as I got older, even though many of my friends had outgrown them. I'm a loyalist, I suppose. While most kids spent their allowances on toys or candy, I bought books. There's a special reason that I preferred books over other things, but that's another story altogether. My point it, I'm a fan.

Or, that is, I was. I fell in love with the books as I learned more about the characters, but as the series wore on, I found myself angrier and angrier at the author, and then authors, as books 25 onward were ghost-written by other people. I became very uncomfortable with where the books were going and couldn't help feeling as though they were setting up characters I dearly loved to fail, and fail miserably. My suspicions of this were confirmed when I read the last four books in the series. I won't lie to you, after Rachel was killed, I legitimately rage-quit. I threw away all the books that I had bought with my own sparsely-received money because I was so angry at how it all ended. Rachel is dead for no good reason, Tobias is bitter and withdraws from humanity, they all hate Cassie for doing what they all knew she'd have done in in that situation, Ax ends up a puppet for a mysterious intergalactic being that's never fully explained, Jake is so eaten up with depression that he can't even function and is probably an alcoholic, and Marco is an empty shell of a person with nothing to comfort him but his fame. And then the entire series ends on a cliffhanger. The actual fuck? There was no resolution, no relief, no happy ending for anyone.

I'm sorry; I'm just not a fan of tragedy. I can't get emotionally invested in a series if I know the people in them are either going to die or end up wishing they were dead by the end of it. And that's exactly what happens. It's why I hated The Hunger Games books and refuse to read Game of Thrones. There are many books that broach the subject of war and death and loss that don't completely destroy their characters in the process. I just can't read about people who should win but never do. The only conclusion I can draw is that the writers hated these characters and desired greatly to see them suffer.

There are so many issues I have with these books. Why did Cassie have the Escafil Device in the first place? Why wasn't Ax entrusted with it, or why couldn't it have been hidden in the Hork-Bajir valley? Why did Rachel have to die, when her death ultimately meant nothing? Why kill Tom? Why not capture him and wait out the three day limit and let him go into hiding with Marco and his family? How is it possible that it took more than three years for someone other than five kids and one alien to recognize that the world was being invaded? Wouldn't a simple MRI brain scan have revealed the Yeerks? How the FUCK are you going to end both romances, both of which spanned the entire series, at the last minute for such senseless reasons? So many issues that I finally decided, after giving up on the books for more than 15 years, that I'm going to fix it. For myself. I need to get this out. I need a proper conclusion to the story. I NEED a happy ending. So I'm writing this fanfiction for me. I hope that you enjoy it; I really do. But this is something I need to do to be able to love this story again. To be able to root for the characters and remind myself why I loved reading them when everyone else thought they were stupid or silly or a waste of time.

I'm going to be ignoring several aspects about the book canon, mostly because I find them ridiculous and unnecessary complications to the main story. The Elimist, Krayak, and the Helmacrons (and their technology) being primary examples. I'm also going to be working from book 23 (the Pretender), the last book that K.A. Applegate wrote on her own (other than book 24, The Suspicion, as it features the Helmacrons, and book 26, The Attack, because of the Elimist/Krayak story arc) and ignoring the rest. I'm leaving out a lot of plot development, I'm aware, but I think to get back to what I believe the story should have been, it's necessary to start where it was still cohesive and before it got hilariously incoherent as a linear storyline. I'm also ignoring the Megamorphs books as well, because what the fuck were those things? The only expansive books I'll include as part of my canon are The Andalite Chronicles and The Hork-Bajir Chronicles; the idea is to streamline the story into a more coherent one.

So, in summary, I hope you enjoy my take on these books. Please leave feedback. I'd love to hear your thoughts.


	2. Chapter One: Jake

My name is Jake. And you've heard this story before.

Because of that, you know that the world is being invaded. Not in any way you'd notice. It's happening secretly. Subtly. Which is why it's working.

The Yeerks have been here for years. Exactly how long, I'm not sure. Even Ax doesn't know for sure, and he knows a bit more than we do about it. Mostly because he and his brother were on a ship above our planet when they were attacked by the Yeerks. Everyone was killed except for Ax, who was in the Dome of the ship and landed in the ocean, and his brother, who escaped but was gravely, fatally, injured.

His brother. His brother is the only reason we even know about the Yeerks. His brother was what his people called a War Prince, a warrior of wide fame and great honor, named Elfangor. He landed on Earth, and we met him, and...well, I'm sure you've heard it before.

I was with Cassie in her barn, also known as the Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic, moving some heavier cages for her and helping her hold various animals for medicating. Both her parents are veterinarians, and her Dad ran the clinic. Her mom was the head doctor at the Gardens, a zoo/amusement park in town. Cassie shared her parents love for animals, and helped her dad run the clinic. It was a lot of work, but she never seemed to mind.

We weren't talking much, but we had that kind of friendship. We could be quiet with each other and it not be awkward. And I say "friendship" because right now, with as crazy as our lives were, that's all it could be, no matter how much either of us wished otherwise. And it had been a crazy few months. A crazy few years.

I like Cassie a lot. I mean, I _really _like her. I've always thought she was pretty, even if she doesn't think she is. Before we met Elfangor, she was a cute friend of my cousin's who I had a crush on but hadn't spent much time with. Now, after everything we'd been through, after all the battles we'd fought together and all the times she's saved my butt or supported my decision or was just there when I needed her without me ever having to ask, she was so much more to me than that. But I couldn't tell her that. Not right now. It would just complicate everything. Until the war was won and the Yeerks were gone, we both knew that we'd have to put those feelings away for a better time. If there ever was a better time.

I did wish things could be different. That I could tell her how cute she looked even when she was all sweaty and covered in animal fur. How much I admired and respected her. How difficult I knew this was for her, but that she kept at it and stayed with the fight was very selfless and remarkable. I wished I could tell her all that, but instead I said, "Where do you want this?"

"Over there, by that stall. We'll be getting a rather large fox later today, and we need to get him away from the birds."

I hefted the cage and lowered it where she directed, careful not to disturb the fawn sleeping in the stall next to it. The fawn's mother had been shot by hunters, so she was being fostered at the clinic until she was old enough to fend for herself and be set free. Well away from hunting grounds.

As I stood up straight and turned back around, she had come up close to me, real close, and I was caught off guard and stared at her, my heart thumping.

"I meant to mention earlier," She said, lowering her voice. "Ax asked me to tell you that he's got something he's working on and he wants us all to see it when he's finished."

I smiled, my heart rate slowing. "Did he mention what it was?"

"Nope," She replied, smiling back. "He was being really secretive about it, but he had this really "pleased with myself" look on his face."

I laughed. "How could you tell?"

"I couldn't. Tobias said. He's better at reading Ax's facial expressions that me."

That was true. Tobias and Ax lived in the same part of the forest behind Cassie's house, so they spent a lot more time with each other than the rest of us did. We recently found out that Tobias was actually Elfangor's son, making Ax Tobias's uncle. As weird as it must be having an uncle who was the same age as you, I imagine it's even weirder that the uncle is an alien and the nephew is a hawk.

Tobias was stuck in his hawk morph and had been since almost the very beginning. But he regained his morphing abilities through an insane turn of events that, if you think it about it too hard, will give you a headache. So I try not to. Long story short, Tobias has had a pretty tough year. I mean, we all had, but his problems definitely trumped ours. At least we got to sleep in a bed at night and didn't have to live on a diet of mice and baby rabbits.

"I wondered what he'd been up to lately. He asked to borrow my T.V. remote and a bunch of broken watches. Apparently he took Marco's and Rachel's too. Did he get yours?"

Cassie snorted. "We're still using a T.V. from the seventies. No remotes. Although he did borrow my radio." She sighed. "Why do I get the feeling I'm not going to get it back?"

I sat on a bale of hay and she sat next to me. "Are we going to him or is he coming to us?" I asked.

"We're going to him. I'm supposed to wait for Tobias to come and let me know when Ax was ready for us, then call you, Rachel, and Marco to meet him in the meadow," She said.

I scrunched my face up in confusion. "You called me over a bit early, then. Just wanted me to do all the heavy lifting for you, huh?"

She looked away, and though it was difficult to tell with her dark skin, I would almost have thought I saw a blush creep up the back of her neck. "That, and...well...with what's happened with David, and Tobias, and all, we haven't really had the chance to hang out much lately. I mean, just you and me. And I wanted to. Spend time with you, I mean."

I was really, really, really happy for a second.

Then Tobias showed up.

_Way to kill my buzz, Tobias_, I thought to myself.

~Hey guys,~ Tobias said, making no comment on the fact that we were sitting less than a foot apart, alone, and both of us looking embarrassed. Tobias was a good guy like that. ~Ax says he's ready to reveal his, whatever it is, he wants to show us. To be honest, they look pretty impressive.~

"They?"

~Yeah, there's quite a few of them. Whatever they are.~ He ruffled up and hopped over to an empty cage on the other side of the barn. ~He's pretty proud of himself.~

Cassie stood and brushed straw off the back of her overalls. "I'll go call Rachel and Marco, and we can be on our way."

Five minutes later, we were trailing behind Tobias on the way to the meadow as a falcon and an osprey. Shortly after that we were joined by another osprey and a bald eagle.

~I was in the middle of a game, Cassie. It's one of those games that you can't save right in the middle!~ Marco was complaining. His osprey morph squawked in agitation. ~Whatever Ax has called us out to look at better be worth the three hours of my life I wasted.~

~Three hours? We're talking about Hot Shot, right? I beat that thing in two,~ I teased.

~Yeah, well, you didn't have to keep rebooting your computer every other hour because it overheats. I keep telling Dad we need a more up-to-date computer, but he says the ones we have are fine. You figure an engineer would know better.~

~Didn't you fail your chemistry and language arts tests last week?~ Rachel asked Marco. ~_You'd _figure you'd have better things to do with your time than play some stupid video game.~

Marco snorted. ~At this rate, none of us are going to graduate high school. We might as well drop out now and join a biker gang.~

Even though it was a joke, the truth of it made me wince internally. All of our grades were suffering because of our double life. It's difficult to care about history exams and pop quizzes when the fate of the world lay squarely on your shoulders. If I managed to scrap by this year with a low C, it'd be a minor miracle. Rachel was doing the best out of all of us, but her normal straight A's had been dwindling into B's and C's, and her parents had noticed. She'd been a hair away from being signed up for after-school tutoring before managing to convince her mom that she was just not applying herself and would work harder in the future. Our after-school activities called for more than a high-schooler looking to earn some extra money.

Banking left, we spotted Ax standing alone in the middle of a small clearing near a stream. A blue centaur with four eyes and a scorpion's tail is hard to miss. He was looking down where a number of small watches and remotes lay on a makeshift table, but his stalk eyes were scanning the skies, looking for us.

~Greetings, Prince Jake. Greetings, my friends,~ He said in thought-speak as we began to descend.

~Hi, Ax,~ I replied. ~Tobias says you've got something to show us.~

~Yes, yes!~ He exclaimed. He was jittery, stepping forward and back and side to side like a nervous horse. ~Please, do not demorph yet. We must take these devices to a populated place. It'll be easier to demonstrate what I've created when you're human and in a center of human interaction.~ He was holding one of the device in his hand, which looked like a normal watch with thin wires threaded around and through it.

~We can go to the mall,~ Rachel said. ~That's the biggest place of human interaction I know about.~

~Any excuse to go to the mall, huh, Rachel?~ Marco said.

~Hey, it's Saturday. The mall is where I usually am on a Saturday,~ She sniffed.

~You will each need to take one of the devices with you. There are four of the smaller ones and three of the larger,~ Ax said, gathering them up to present them to us.

~Ax, what are these?~ I asked.

~I will explain when we get to the mall. Please, quickly!~ His urgency spurred us, and we each took a device or two and flew off again.

Within thirty minutes, we were on the roof of the mall. We had long since rigged the door so that we could get in whenever we needed to, and we had also found a broken air vent in which to hide clothes. Morphing normal clothes just isn't possible, apparently. The only things we've managed are skin tight outfits like leotards, gymnastics outfits, and tight work-out clothes. Anything else gets shredded or falls right off.

We all demorphed, or in Tobias's case, morphed. Ax went straight from harrier hawk to Andalite to human, which can be tiring, so we prepared to give him a few minutes to rest. But it seemed he didn't need time.

"Come, come!" He said, heading right for the door, forgetting to dress himself.

"Ax! Remember, you can't go into the mall wearing a tank top and bike shorts. You've got to put clothes on," Rachel called, catching him by the arm.

Ax seemed frustrated by the delay, but complied. Once everyone was dressed appropriately, we headed down into the upper level of the mall, exiting out of a utility corridor, and came up short in front of the Gap.

"Alright, now, everyone take one of the smaller devices and put them on," Ax said. "Vices. DEE-vices. De. De. De-VIE-ces."

We did, feeling silly. Rachel's nose twitched up at hers. It was large and obviously a man's watch. I could hear the fashonista in her gagging.

"Now, press the alarm-set button on the side," He said. He was practically bouncing on his heels.

We did. Nothing happened.

"Ax, really, what is going..." As I spoke, a woman walked past us into the store. Suddenly, I felt a buzz on my wrist. The watch had vibrated in a short burst. It didn't hurt, but it was certainly unexpected.

"What was that?!" Rachel said, looking at her own watch.

"You felt that too?" Tobias said.

"Excellent! It worked!" Ax said, clapping his hands.

"What worked, Ax? What are these things?" Cassie said, holding hers up to her ear.

"It's a vorfit device. It detects kandrona particles. The woman who passed us just now must have been a controller. It's what set off the device. The smaller devices detect sparse kandrona particles, the concentration found in individual controllers, and the larger devices detect large concentrations of them, such as Yeerk pools and artificial kandronas. When kandrona particles are within range of the device, it will buzz. The smaller ones are close proximity alarms with a range of only a few feet. The large ones can stretch up to half a mile. According to my calculations, anyway, which are usually correct."

I stared at him, dumbstruck. "Wait, Ax, are you saying we can use these to determine who is a controller and who isn't?"

He nodded vigorously. "Not just that, Prince Jake. We can use the larger devices to find bases and pools. We can use it to detect weapons and vehicle stations. This will aid us greatly in our fight."

"Ax-man, you are a genius." Tobias said, laughing.

"Perhaps by human standards, yes," Ax said simply.

"This is great! This will finally put us on the offensive. We're finally one step ahead of those nasty slugs." Rachel had suddenly overcome her distaste for the style of the device and was stroking hers as though it were her new favorite pet.

"Ax, let's go to the food court. I'm buying you five cinnamon buns," Marco said.

"REALLY?!" Ax's eyes bulged out of his head. Cinnamon buns were he's favorite human food, next to nachos and cigarette butts.

"Absolutely. You deserve it. In fact, I think we should all chip in and by him a whole dozen, what do you guys think?"

"Definitely," I said, slapping Ax on the back. "You earned it, man."

"Thank you! Thank you all very much!" Ax said. He gave us all a very awkward hug and lead the march down to the food court. One of the nicer things about Ax is that he's sufficiently rewarded for just about anything he does with a corresponding amount of food. He's easy to please.

We all pitched in to buy a tray of cinnamon buns. All except Tobias, who looked rather disquieted. But we understood. Hawks don't exactly have pockets or get allowances.

After Ax devoured more than half the tray, and was still trying to eat more (we had to take the tray from him before he made himself sick), he pulled out one of the larger devices and fiddled with it for a moment, adjusting a wire here and a knob there.

"Are you thinking the mall might be a secret Yeerk base, Ax?" Cassie asked in an undertone.

"It is possible. This many humans in one place could very well be a perfect cover for controllers entering and exiting a pool. EX-it-ting. Ting. Egg-sitting. That is an odd word."

"Well, switch it on, let's see," Marco said, leaning over Ax's shoulder to get a look, ignoring Ax's tendency to play with his words. We had all pretty much gotten used to this idiosyncrasy of Ax's human morph. Having no mouth as an Andalite made word sounds as fun for him as a video game or a movie. He could entertain himself for hours just by reading the dictionary out loud. Like I said, easy to please.

Ax flipped a switch on the side of the device.

It lit up like a Christmas tree.

"Looks like your suspicions are confirmed, Ax-man," Tobias said. His unblinking hawk glare made his grim words that much more disconcerting.

"We should try and find the Yeerk pool. It's probably under the mall," I said. "It's in our best interest to know exactly which directions our enemy will be coming at us from."

"Which is pretty much all directions," Cassie said darkly.

Marco groaned. "Do you always have to be so grown-up? Couldn't we just enjoy this one small accomplishment for a minute without barreling off toward certain doom with reckless abandon?"

"Small?" Ax echoed.

I gave Marco a half-smile. "Sorry to disappoint you, bud, but we need to act on any reliable or semi-reliable information while it's fresh."

Marco rolled his eyes. "Fine. When do you want to go on this newest insane suicide mission?"

"Why wait?" Rachel said. "We're already here, it's still relatively early, and I don't have to be home for another eight hours. I say we do it now."

"Yeah, you would," Marco retorted. "The rest of us aren't in a rush to die."

"Rachel's right, as much as I hate to say it," Cassie said. "We should do it now. It's busy, no one would notice us."

Rachel looked at Cassie in surprise. We all did.

"What?" She said. "It makes sense to do it while we're already here."

"They're both right," I agreed. "We should go now. Ax and Tobias only have about twenty minutes left in morph."

"Twenty three of your minutes, Prince Jake," Ax replied.

"Thank you, Ax, that was unnecessary," I said mildly. "Let's go ahead and hit the bathrooms. Are we thinking flies, mosquitoes, or cockroaches?"

Rachel's lips curled. "Do we have to do bugs? I hate doing bugs."

"Housefly," Tobias said, his head jerking to the side as he spoke to look at me. Being trapped as a bird for nearly a year had made him forget how to act human. "People see a single cockroach and it'll be a mass panic. The health department will shut the whole place down. But people are used to seeing flies everywhere."

"Agreed." I stood, and the others stood with me. The girls took a left to the ladies' room and the guys and I swung a right to the mens'. I had to grab Ax before he fecklessly followed the girls into the wrong room and created a scene. Luckily for us, the men's bathroom was empty. We took off our outer clothes and put them and the devices into a back pack, which we hid under the sink behind the trashcan.

"Ax, take the handicapped stall. It should be large enough to hide you mid-morph."

"Yes, Prince Jake."

I sighed. "It wouldn't do me any good to ask you not to call me 'Prince' in public, would it, Ax?"

"I'm honor-bound to follow any orders you give me, Prince Jake."

I sighed. "That's a no. Didn't think so. Had to ask. You do this on purpose, I'm sure of it. You get some kind of weird amusement out of it."

"I don't know what you mean, Prince Jake," Ax replied innocently as he closed himself up into the largest stall. I swear he was laughing. But you could never tell with Ax. Part of his charm, I suppose. At least, that's what I tell myself. I caught Tobias's eye as he disappeared into his own stall, and despite his normally expressionless hawk face, the grin was hard to miss.

Morphing to the housefly didn't take long. It's just so bizarre to shrink so quickly. I'm a fairly tall guy for my age, so going from my normal height to about a thousand times smaller will always be an unsettling experience, no matter how many times I do it. I shivered a bit before I began the process and had to take several breaths to calm myself down. I was not keen on morphing a fly. I used to like it. Flying as a housefly is unlike anything you've ever experienced. It's even better than being a bird, because there are no limits to what you can do. But one time when I was a fly, I got swatted and nearly died. It's not a sort of experience one forgets. But a leader can't not do something because he's afraid. We aren't afforded the luxury of being scared.

It didn't help my concentration that I was trying to keep a mind to Tobias and Ax. The wear of rapid changing between morphs is going to catch up with them at some point today, and I didn't want it to be during a battle. If there was a battle.

A few minutes later, we, were crawling out from underneath the bathroom door. We all instinctively buzzed our way up to the ceiling, waiting patiently for the girls to join us.

~Where are you guys?~ I called after about ten minutes.

~We're coming,~ Cassie responded. She sounded flustered. ~We had to wait for these awful girls to finish primping in the mirror before we could safely morph.~

~They're lucky I didn't morph the elephant and squash them, the horrible little-~

~Rachel, it's fine,~ Cassie shushed her.

~What's fine?~ Tobias asked.

~They were picking on Cassie,~ She said, fuming. ~It's alright for me to talk about the way Cassie dresses. I'm only trying to help her. Those girls have got no right to say anything.~

~What did they say?~ I asked, suddenly annoyed. I knew I should be a bit more above it, but I shared Rachel's sentiment. No one picks on Cassie.

~It doesn't matter. Besides, don't we have a job to do?~ Cassie sounded embarrassed that Rachel brought it up.

~She's right, Romeo,~ Marco said. ~You can defend your lady's honor later. Let's get this over with so I can get back to that stupid game.~

I let it drop. ~Alright, then. There's another utility hall near the exits. It runs behind the stores so the employees of the food court can get in and out of the building. That seems like a good place to start looking.~

The vision of a fly is broken up into a hundred small screens, so it takes a while for the brain to adjust to it, and even being used to it doesn't help. We mostly had to follow our nose to return to the food court. We found a square of wall that smelled of cleaning supplies rather than food, and we guessed that it must have been the door to the employee hallway.

~Alright, guys, we're looking for a door that would lead to a basement of some kind. It might even have a keypad on the door or guards.~

~Should we split up?~ Tobias asked.

~Yeah. The hallway isn't long enough for us to go out of thought-speak range, so splitting up shouldn't be too risky. But go in pairs. Rachel with Cassie, Tobias with Marco, and Ax with me. If you see anything suspicious, let me know.~

I vaguely watched four black dots fly off in the opposite direction, and another black dot buzz around next to me.

~It will be difficult to see the door,~ Ax surmised. ~It would be more prudent to use our sense of smell. If there is a Yeerk pool in this building, it is more likely that we will smell it before we see it.~

~I agree,~ I replied. We buzzed around for a few minutes but didn't see or smell anything obvious. ~Guys, are you having any luck?~

~Nothing yet,~ Tobias said.

~Us either,~ Cassie replied.

~No, wait, what's that smell?~ Rachel asked. ~It smells like a my grampa's vegetable cellar mixed with Cassie's barn.~

~Wait, I smell it too,~ Cassie said. ~Everyone fly over in our direction.~

It took another few minutes of erratic, disjointed efforts to find them, but eventually we all met on the ground in front of a door.

~Hey! There's no space under the door. What do we do?~ Marco said.

I thought quickly. ~One of use will have to demorph to open the door. I'll do it. Everyone else hang tight. Fly up to the ceiling so that I don't accidentally step on you.~

I saw them all take off, and then I demorphed. Soon I was standing alone in bike shorts and a workout tee, barefoot, in an empty hallway. I looked the corridor up and down, and when I didn't see anyone, I inspected the door. It wasn't guarded or protected by a keypad. It wasn't even locked.

"Can you guys understand me?" I said quietly.

~Sort of,~ Marco said. ~I mean, I can hear what you're saying but the echo in the room makes it sound like fifty people are saying it.~

"I'm opening the door now. Follow the smell. I'll let you know what I encounter."

~Shouldn't you remorph?~ Cassie asked anxiously.

"Not yet," I replied. "I haven't run into anything suspicious yet."

I opened the door cautiously and peered down the dimly lit stairwell. I didn't see any strange lights or hear any voices, so I started down the steps. I could hear buzzing as the others followed me in.

~The light in here is really bad,~ Tobias said. ~Man, I miss my eyes.~

"Give me a minute, I'm going to look around and make sure we're alone down here," I said.

In the low light, I saw a great deal of shrink-wrapped freight on pallets along the walls. Apparently, the stores kept extra stock in the basement. The room was rather large and spanned farther than my human eye could see.

"Guys, go ahead and demorph. I'm gonna need some help here. This place is huge."

Within three minutes, the others had demorphed and were looking around.

"You weren't lying, Jake," Marco said. "I can't believe this place isn't guarded. There are clothes, electronics, and all kinds of stuff just lying around."

"Well, they probably don't expect people to turn into flies and get past locked doors." I looked around. "Split into pairs again and pick a direction. Meet back here in ten minutes with what you find."

Ten minutes passed, and what we found was a whole lot of nothing.

"I do not understand," Ax said. After finding nothing but a lot of creepy mannequins and unsold cell phones from last year, we decided to bail. Were back inside the mall, heading back to the roof. "The device should be working properly. It showed a large concentration of kandrona particles. Perhaps it malfunctioned or I miscalibrated it."

"Not necessarily," Rachel said. "I mean, look at this place." She waved her hand vaguely around at the sea of bodies surging in all directions as we walked through the horde. "It's packed. There's got to be at least a thousand people here, give or take a few hundred. As many as half of those people could be controllers. Or more."

"That makes sense," Ax said thoughtfully. "That many controllers in a confined space could certainly read like a Yeerk pool and confuse the sensor." He looked relieved that his device was still valuable and hadn't disappointed.

"Ax, those things you made will be life savers. Just you wait, we're gonna use them all the time from now on," I assured him.

"Yeah, Ax-Man, you did good," Tobias said, putting an arm around Ax's shoulder.

Ax puffed up proudly. "I insist that each of you carry one. I made the small ones for you. I don't need one; I can tell who is a controller simply by looking them in the face."

"Thanks Ax," Marco said. "Just what I always wanted for Christmas, a Yeerk detector."

Out on the roof, we stripped down to our morphing clothes and hid the outer ones back in the air vent.

"Well, I'm heading home," Marco said. "I'm gonna beat that game if it kills me."

"Is that likely?" Ax asked, alarmed.

"No, Ax, it isn't. Marco's being dramatic," Rachel said. "I'm going home too. Jordan's just starting multiplication, and I should help her. You going my way, Jake? I'll escort you."

"Nah, thanks though. I left my bike and my clothes at Cassie's place. My parents might not care about the bike, but I think coming home without my clothes might get some attention."

She grinned and shook out her golden hair. "I'll see you guys later then." She winked at Cassie and started to morph. Cassie rolled her eyes.

Marco and Rachel took off after saying goodbye to all. She stayed a moment longer that Marco, and I suspected she may have said something to Tobias privately, but I didn't intrude. Once Cassie, Ax, Tobias, and I had morphed, we headed off back to Cassie's farm.

As soon as we reached the edge of the woods, Ax and Tobias broke off, riding the air to their respective homes in the forest. It left me and Cassie enjoying the warm afternoon sky together. As dates go, flying through the air with a pretty girl who also made a beautiful bird wasn't such a bad one. I was starting to feel really good.

We got back to the barn in late afternoon. The fox Cassie had been waiting for was sleeping in the cage I had moved earlier in the day. When we landed, it looked at us with interest, but when we returned to our human forms, it went back to sleep. We both shimmied back into our outer clothes. With a thoughtful look at each other, we strapped the devices to our wrists.

"These things Ax made could save our lives, you know," Cassie said incredulously. "Just think, now we'll always know who can be trusted and who can't."

"Or it'll just make us more paranoid," I said with a sigh.

"Hey," She said, taking my chin and making me look at her. "Today was a good day. We've got a new toy to help us with the fight, and we didn't find a huge nasty pool of slugs under the mall. No battles. No blood. No screaming. It was a good day."

I smiled slowly at her. "It was, wasn't it? We don't get very many of them, do we?"

"Exactly. Enjoy it, Jake."

She always knew just what to say. I pulled her into a hug. She was a little surprised, but hugged me back tightly. We didn't let go for a minute. Eventually, we made ourselves step away.

"So," I said. "What did those girls say?"

"Oh." She looked down, uncomfortable. "Nothing really. They just suggested Rachel pick her friends better. That pretty people should only be friends with other pretty people. You can bet Rachel told them exactly what she thought of that."

"Oh yeah, I bet," I said. "Besides, those girls wouldn't know what pretty was if it was staring them in the face."

"And how would you know that? You didn't even see them."

"Because I've seen you."

She went wide-eyed and open-mouthed with surprise. Then she looked down again, embarrassed. I could see her smiling shyly and a little bit smugly.

"So," She said, still looking at the ground. "I could use some help tomorrow mucking out the stables." She looked up at me through her lashes. "Know anyone I could ask?"

I grinned widely at her. "I'll be there."

She smiled back. "See you then."

That day was the first time I felt like I didn't need wings to fly.

The ride home on my bike was leisurely, but I made it home in fifteen minutes. When I got there, dinner was already waiting for me. It was my favorite food, and I was starving. Every bite was amazing. Tom wasn't there, so I didn't have to put on a pretense of familial camaraderie with him. I had no homework, no tests, and for the moment, no worries.

Today was the best day I'd had in a long time. Such a long time.

Cassie was right. I should enjoy every second of it.

Then the phone rang.

Mom knocked on my door. "Jake? Cassie's on the phone. She sounds upset."

My stomach clenched. The good feeling I'd had all day evaporated in a heartbeat.

I opened the door and took the phone. "It's probably one of the animals. She got a fox in today. Maybe something went wrong."

My mom made a tsking noise. "Poor thing. I hope she'll be alright."

"I'm sure she will," I said, closing the door. With my heart thumping in my throat, I put the receiver to my ear. "Cassie?"

At first, I didn't hear anything. Then I realized she was crying so hard that she could barely breath, let alone speak.

I could barely breath myself. Cassie wasn't a crier. It was one of the things I liked about her. She was strong and stoic, she could handle anything. If Cassie was crying this hard, it wasn't just bad, it was terrifying.

"Cassie, please, tell me what's wrong."

She gasped a breath, enough to choke out the words, "Oh, God, Jake..."

"Tell me. What's happened? Are you hurt? What's wrong?"

She started talking, but she was still crying so hard that I couldn't make out the words, so I asked her to repeat herself. When she did, I finally understood her, and my heart stopped altogether.

"She's one of them," She sobbed into the phone. "My mom, Jake. She's a controller."


	3. Chapter Two: Cassie

Everything had changed. It was the beginning of the end, and they didn't even know it. I could see it on their faces. They felt bad for me. They were sympathetic. But they had no idea. No idea of the danger we were in. And we had done it to ourselves.

I was still crying. I hadn't stopped crying. It felt strange, like I was standing in cold rain and something was pulling on my face. I felt so heavy. Jake had gotten there first and had held me for a long time. Any other day, it would have felt good. It would have been comforting. Not today. Nothing could comfort me today.

It didn't take long after I called Jake for all of them to show up at the barn. Jake stayed until Rachel arrived, then left to get Ax and Tobias. He didn't want me to be alone for a single second. Just in case. As it was, my mom had been called away from home suddenly, otherwise I wouldn't have felt comfortable about having Ax here anymore. From now on, the barn wouldn't be safe. The enemy had gotten too close. Way too close.

Marco was the last to show up, but he lived farther into town than everyone else. He was uncharacteristically quiet. His mom was a controller, too, so I'm sure he understood what I felt. Just like Jake did, because of Tom. But they didn't realize. It was over. This was it. We had lost.

"Are you sure, Cassie?" Marco asked.

"Yes," I said. "The device went off every time she walked by me. The first time it happened, I tried to convince myself that it was a fluke. But the twelfth time? I can't ignore that."

Rachel had her arm around me and she gave me a squeeze. The others seems at a loss for words.

~How long do you believe she's been a controller?~ Ax asked.

"I have no idea, but if I had to take a guess, probably after I got stuck as a caterpillar and was gone for three days seven months ago. It was in all the papers. I was on the news. Twice. Something like that might have caught their attention." I put my head in my hands to stop them from shaking. "God, this is all my fault."

"Cassie, you can't think that way," Marco said softly. "I mean, yeah, it sucks. Trust me, I know. But you can't blame yourself."

"No, you don't understand! None of you understand!" I jumped up, my hands over my ears. "This is my fault. It's all our faults!"

Rachel bristled. "Hey, I know this it tough, Cass, but we didn't put that Yeerk in your mom's ear."

"Yes, we did! Don't you get it?" I looked at them all. Their faces were an identical mask of confusion and defense.

All except Jake. He took my shoulders and made me look him in the eye. "Cassie, what are you talking about?"

"Think about it," I said. "Don't you think that the Yeerks have been compiling a list of the morphs we've used? Don't you think they'd have figured out that most of them can only be found in one place in this town?"

He straightened, realizing what I meant. "The Gardens."

"Oh, man," Marco said.

"Wouldn't they have decided to place a spy in the zoo to keep an eye on suspicious activity? And wouldn't it make sense to infest the one who's in charge?" I asked desperately.

"Which is your mom. Oh, my God." Now Rachel was the one with her head in her hands. "You're right. This is all our fault."

~I'm so sorry, Cassie,~ Tobias said. ~This is horrible.~

"It's not just horrible, Tobias," I said weakly. "This is the end. It's over. It's all over."

Marco screwed up his face in confusion. "Look, I agree this is bad," He said. "But don't you think you're being a little bit over-dramatic?"

"Hey, lay off," Rachel retorted. "You, of all people, should understand."

"I do understand!" Marco shot back. "Yeah, my mom's a controller, too, and I'm pissed about it, but I didn't act like it was the end of the world. Just because her mom got Yeerked doesn't completely shut us down."

"Marco, chill," Jake said. "You're mom isn't living in your house and breathing down your neck, like my brother does. Cassie's mom's going to be watching her every move every second. It's different."

"Oh, you mean it's worse for you than it is for me or something? Real nice, Jake. You didn't have to put your whole life back together like I did." His voice rose in aggravation.

"You know that's not what I meant, Marco. Don't put words in my mouth."

"I'm only repeating what I heard," Marco said angrily.

Jake's whole body tensed, fists clenching. "Well, then, maybe you need to get your hearing checked."

"Everyone stop!" I shouted. "You're still not getting, are you?"

Ax, Rachel, and Tobias stared. Jake and Marco stood huffing and, after a second, broke their gaze and stared at me too. Marco and Jake never fought like this. I knew they could feel something really bad coming.

"Only some of the animals we've acquired are from the Gardens," I told them. " The rest are from the Clinic. From right here, where my Dad works. It's only going to be a matter of time before they figure that out too, and they get my Dad. And then once that happens, how long do you think it'll take before they realize the only other person with unlimited access to this clinic," I waved my hand around at the barn. "Is me?"

Everyone shut up hard. I could finally see the realization in their eyes. The anger was gone, replaced by shock and terror.

My voice was thin and shaky. "One night, they're going to ask me if I want to go to a movie, or to dinner. Or just for a drive. And we're going to get into the truck. But we won't be going to dinner or a movie. They'll take me to a pool. And then my parents, my own parents, are going to grab me and force my head down into that disgusting..." My voice cracked, the tears falling freely down my face. I sucked in a deep breath. "And when I come back up, it'll all be over. They'll know everything. You can only refuse your parents so many times before they get suspicious. And Yeerks don't take no for an answer." I sat down hard. "It's over."

There was total silence for about five minutes, during which time I didn't look at anyone. No one tried to comfort me. They were to stunned to move.

Ax was able to collect his thoughts and speak first. ~It is obvious that Cassie is in imminent danger. What options are available to us to help her? She cannot stay in such a dangerous position.~

Jake nodded. His face was like a stone. "Not just that, it's no longer safe for us to meet here. And we can't go to the Gardens anymore. We have to find some way to make Cassie safe."

"How do we do that, Jake?" I asked plaintively.

"We watch your parents. You stay with Rachel as often as possible. Try to stay out of the house as much as you can."

"You guys can't watch my house 24/7. And if I'm never home and I neglect my work here, they'll get upset. Suspicious. My dad relies on my help to keep this place going."

Jake sighed. "What if you disappeared? Ran?"

He was grasping, desperate."Where would I go?"

"I don't know. The Hork-Bajir valley, or out in the forest with Ax and Tobias. There's got to be something."

"I can't live on grass and bark and mice, Jake," I said with exasperation. "And there are things I need that they can't get me."

"Like what?"

I looked down and felt heat rise to my cheeks. "Girl things," I said under my breath.

Jake blushed and didn't ask what I meant.

"Besides that, if I disappear, the first place they're going to look are the people closest to me. Meaning you. And Rachel. And even Marco. You know for a fact that Tom has been itching to stick a slug in your head for years, he just hasn't had a good enough reason. If I disappear suddenly after my mom gets infested, that'll be all the reason he needs."

~And if they don't get to Jake, naturally they'll go after Rachel. She's Cassie's best friend,~ Tobias commented.

"Oh, man, this is bad. This is worse than bad," Marco moaned. "Cassie's right. We're in it deep."

"Look," Jake said, pinching his brow. "Go to Rachel's for now. Tell your dad you're spending the weekend there, that you've got a big test next week to study for, or whatever it takes. Take enough clothes for a couple of days and all your school books. Give me some time; I'll figure something out. I promise. But I don't want you in your house right now. It's too dangerous."

~I'm going to go find Erek,~ Tobias said. ~We need to find a place for Cassie to stay, potentially long-term. The Chee might take her in. They owe us.~

Jake nodded gratefully. "Yes, do that."

~The Escafil Device must not stay here,~ Ax said. ~Wherever Cassie goes, she must take it with her. It will not be secure here with a controller in such close proximity.~

"Agreed," Jake replied. "Take it with you for now, Ax. We'll decide what to do with it once we find a safe place for Cassie to stay."

Tobias took off. Rachel went into my house to pack a bag and call my dad, who was at a financing meeting with his accountant. Marco and Jake consulted each other about the best way to keep surveillance over an extended period (and I suspected also apologizing for snapping at each other, but only the way guys apologize, but not talking about it), which left me and Ax to get the blue box.

~I feel that I must apologize to you, Cassie,~ Ax said as we were walking to the water pump where I had hidden the blue box weeks before.

"For what?"

~When I made these devices, I intended them to help you. To make you all feel safer. I did not expect this outcome. I feel... badly that this turned out so poorly.~

"It's not your fault, Ax. If you hadn't made the devices, I might not have found out the truth until it was too late. You did me a favor, even though it makes me heartsick to think about it," I said.

~Me, also,~ Ax agreed sadly. ~Still, I did not wish to cause you distress. If I can, I will find a way to fix this. I will help you, Cassie, however I am able."

I took his hand and squeeze his fingers gently. Touch is an alien concept to Andalites, but he didn't shake me off. "Thank you, Ax. That means a lot."

I twisted off the loose bit that attached the pump to it's base, and there the box lay, glowing softly. I lifted it out and put it quickly into a small drawstring bag. The string was fairly long, so I slung it over Ax's head and let it dangle on his chest like a necklace. Afterward, he took off toward the forest, eager to be away.

I went into the house. Rachel was still on the phone with my dad and throwing things haphazardly into a suitcase. I asked her to give me the phone.

I took a deep breath before putting the phone to my ear. This could be the last time I ever spoke to my dad as a free man. I didn't know what I should say. I didn't know if I should warn him. I didn't know if I should tell him something bad happened and leave it at that. I was at such a loss for what to do, say, think.

"Hey, Dad."

"Hey, Cass. Rachel says you'll be staying over for a big study weekend, right?"

"Yeah. Got a bunch of tests coming up. Is that okay?"

"Sure, honey, I should be able to manage the clinic for a day or two without you."

I nearly burst into tears all over again. I couldn't tell him that I likely wouldn't be back home in two days. I'd likely never come back home ever again.

"Listen, Dad," I took a deep shuddering breath. "I love you very much. You know that, right."

"Of course I do, honey, I love you very much too." He paused. "Baby, are you okay? Did something happen?"

"No," I lied. "No, I just figured I haven't been saying it enough lately. But I really do love you." I needed to stop speaking. It was hard to keep the tears out of my voice and I could hear that he was getting worried.

"I love you, too," He repeated, still uncertain. "Listen, I'll be home in a little while. Why don't you wait until I get there and we'll talk a little bit before you go."

"Sorry, Dad," I said, fighting to keep my voice steady. "We've got a book report due on Monday that neither of us have even started on."

"Okay, well, I'll call you later at Rachel's when I get home." He paused again. "Everything's gonna be okay, honey. You know that, right?"

I couldn't keep it together anymore. "I gotta go, Dad. Talk to you later."

I hung up the receiver and bent double, crying into my knees. Rachel had stopped packing and was watching me, but she didn't offer a hug or a pat on the back. I was grateful for that. I don't think I could have handled being touched right then.

Once I managed to pull myself together, I took over packing so that Rachel could call her mom and tell her I was coming. Jake poked his head in through the back door to check on our progress, his face grim, solemn. Marco had taken off to the valley of Toby and the other Hork-Baijir. All our allies needed to know that things had definitely taken a bad turn.

"How's everything coming?" Jake asked. He was asking both of us, but he was looking at me. I could only imagine what my face showed.

"We're almost done," Rachel said, hefting my schoolbag on her shoulder. "Mom knows she'll be at our house, but she won't actually be there. She's going to a seminar in Seattle tomorrow. She taking my sisters on a plane tonight and drop them off there at Dad's. They just left. She's actually relieved that I won't be alone all weekend."

Jake nodded. "Good. I'll walk you guys home."

I expected Rachel, being Rachel, to insist that we didn't need a big, strong man to take care of us, but she didn't say a word. Jake picked up my suitcase wordlessly and lead the way to the front door.

At the end of the driveway, I stopped and turned back to look at my house. When was the next time I'd see it? Would I ever step foot in it again? I felt a horrible finality about what was happening. A feeling that this part of my life was over. No more school. No more pretending to be a normal kid. No more parents. I suddenly felt a strange new respect for Tobias's predicament. I wonder how he managed it so well. How he had learned to cope. Maybe sometime soon, he and I should talk about it. Maybe he could help me learn to accept it.

Jake and Rachel stopped a little way behind of me, watching me but not hurrying. I turned back to them and they waited for me to say something. But instead, I just walked past them.

Rachel's house was pretty big and really nice, but her mom was a fairly successful lawyer, so that wasn't unusual. I was glad we'd be alone, because with how I was feeling at that moment, I didn't think I could fake normalcy for a houseful of people who knew me pretty well.

We went straight to Rachel's room. As Jake was setting my things down on Rachel's bed, Rachel opened the window. We expected Tobias back any minute.

No one knew what to say. Rachel and I sat on the bed and Jake sat across from us at Rachel's desk. We just sat there and waited. The tension was so heavy that it seemed to suck the air out of the room.

Finally, after a small eternity, Tobias fluttered into the room. ~I told the Chee about the situation, and they want to help however they can,~ Tobias said.

"Help how," Jake asked?

~They says she's welcome to stay with them at Mr. King's house. They've apparently taken in free controllers before and helped them get to a safe houses out of state. But they understand that Cassie's circumstances are different and that she'll need to stay in town, so they want her to stay as long as is necessary. But she'll have to stay hidden. They've got some sort of plan worked out that's dependent on her disappearing.~

My heart sank. I knew this was probably going to happen, but I didn't want to believe that I'd actually have to run away.

~They can have everything ready by tomorrow. But tonight, the safest place for you is here,~ Tobias told me.

Jake nodded. "Thanks, Tobias. Find Ax and Marco and tell them what's happening."

~Sure thing, boss-man,~ Tobias said. A flap of his wings and he was gone.

Jake scrubbed his face. "It's getting late, and I told my Mom I'd only be gone an hour. Listen, I'll be back in the morning Try and get some rest, the both of you. I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be a very long day for all of us."

"I'll walk you out," I said, standing. Rachel didn't follow.

Out on the porch, Jake and I stood together. He took both my hands in his and bent his head over mine, but he didn't say anything. I still felt like I couldn't get enough air, like there were tight bands of steel around my chest.

"I'm going to fix this, Cassie," Jake whispered to me. "I'm going to do something, I promise. I'm going to fix this."

Then he, too, was gone. I went back inside, and though it was still pretty early, Rachel and I both went to bed. Neither of us slept.

The next morning, we both got up and dressed in silence. Being comforting and conciliatory was not Rachel's strong suit, so she was really out of her element here. It was okay. I knew all the things she'd have said, and none of them would have made me feel any better. Perhaps she knew that, which is why she didn't try.

She asked if I wanted breakfast, and I said yes automatically, though I had no stomach for food. I picked at the eggs she'd made me. I took only a few sips of milk. The waiting was killing me. Whatever was going to be done, I wished they'd do it and get it over with.

A knock at the door saved me from spiraling down into horrible what-ifs. Rachel opened it and was followed in by Jake and Erek.

Erek King was a member of an android race called the Chee, built millions of years ago by a dog-like species known as the Pemalites. Pemalites had evolved past war and violence, and were a purely peaceful race, which is why they got wiped out by a hostile race called the Howlers. The last remaining Pemalites fled, arriving on Earth when humanity was still in it's infancy. As they perished, the Chee transplanted the essence of their masters' souls into the only species on earth that resembled them: wolves. From that union, the first dogs were created. While dogs didn't retain the intelligence that the Pemalites had, they were imbued with the same characteristics as the Pemalites, such as loyalty, friendliness, pure innocent joy, and a love of fun.

The Chee were built by the Pemalites as companions and friends, not just mindless computers or slaves. They also built them to last forever. Each of them had lived a thousand generations, allowing one identity to "die" and being reborn as another. In this life, Erek looked like a normal kid our age. But that was just a hologram. Underneath he looked much different.

"Hi, Cassie," He said to me as he came in.

"Hey Erek," I said without inflection.

"Tobias told me last night about everything. I'm really sorry."

I looked at him. "Did you know?"

He shook his head. "No. Believe me, if I had, I'd have told you. We think she's been infested by a higher-up, which means her mission is secret and not for the rest of the controller populace to know about. She might even be a sub-visser."

I was not any more comforted by this information, but as a sub-visser, it would be less likely that Visser Three would just up and kill her if she failed whatever her mission was. I could guess.

"Tobias said you had a plan," I said. "Am I just going to go missing or something?"

"No, we've got another plan. Just a sec, I'll be right back." He disappeared down the hall. We he returned he was followed by... Me.

Well, someone who looked like me. It was a pretty convincing look-alike.

"My name is Chee-Eina," The not-Cassie person said. "I'm going to be taking your place at your home for the foreseeable future."

I frowned. "Do you think you can fool my parents? Don't you already have another identity? I know most of the Chee do."

"Don't worry," She said, smiling. "My last identity "died" three weeks ago. She was pretty old."

"What about working in the clinic? If you can't do the work that I did, my mom'll make you pretty quick," I said uncertainly.

"I was a veterinarian in my past life. I've got it covered." She tilted her head in a way I might have. "I will need to speak to you for a while, to get a feel for your personality and how you interact with people in order to better convince your family and others that I am you."

I swallowed and nodded. She led me into the living room, leaving Erek, Jake, and Rachel to talk in undertones in the kitchen.

The whole conversation with my doppelganger took about fifteen minutes. Afterward, she was so like me that even I had trouble telling us apart. We re-entered the kitchen with Rachel and Erek still talking. Jake was leaning against the counter, looking at the floor.

"So," Erek said. "How do you want to do this?"

I thought for a moment. "My parents expect me to stay tonight and go to school with Rachel tomorrow. I don't think that plan should change. I'll stay with Rachel tonight, and then in the morning, Chee-Eina will go to school with Rachel and I will go with Erek to his house. After that, I don't know," I ended that sentence on a pretty wobbly note. Jake looked up at me. His expression was pained.

"We'll both stay here as well," Erek said.

"My mom and sisters will be home tonight," Rachel said. "It'll be a little weird having a strange boy and two Cassie's in the house."

"We'd be outside, disguised. Think of it like extra security," Chee-Eina said.

"Sure, whatever works," I said flatly. I felt hollow. Emptied out.

Jake was still staring at me. "Rachel, when is your family supposed to be home?" He asked.

"After dinner, around nine or so," She replied.

"Good," Jake said. "I want us to have another meeting before Cassie heads to Erek's. Everyone needs to be up to speed about the plan. And we need to make arrangements for future meetings and missions. We need to make plans."

Arrangements. Plans. It felt like he was talking about my funeral. Like I had already died. In a way, that's exactly what it felt like. The old Cassie was dead. Who the new Cassie would be, even I didn't know.

Three hours later, everyone had shown up at Rachel's place. Ax and Tobias arrived in human morph with Marco. Jake relayed the plan to them. Flatly, without comment. I got the feeling that he wasn't happy about this plan. But with a lack of options, he knew this was the only thing that could be done. He still hated it. Well, so did I.

They left shortly before the two hour time limit was up. Tobias and Ax didn't say much, but there wasn't much they could say. No one else had any better ideas.

Before Jake left, he made sure I knew that we'd all still see each other. He'd visit me as often as he could; every day if he could manage it. We'd all still meet with each other for meetings or missions. He want me to know that I'd still be included. As much as he tried to reassure me, I still felt as though I was taking a step away from everyone. He felt it too. Neither of us liked it.

That night I slept, but badly. Nightmares about my parents at the Yeerk pool kept me waking in cold sweats. As awful as it was, I didn't want the night to end. Because as soon as the sun came up, everything would be different. I wanted to hang on to what it had been, even the bad parts, because back then, I still had my parents. I still had my friends. I still had Jake. Now it felt as though everything was slipping away from me. I felt like when the sun rose, I'd have nothing left.

As much as I wished otherwise, dawn came. Rachel and I got up and, much like the day before, dressed and ate in silence. Rachel's mom left with the younger girls to take them to their school down the road, at which time Erek and Chee-Eina came in. They had disguised themselves as bushes for most of the night. Now Chee-Eina had resumed her Cassie hologram.

This was it. I turned to Rachel and was startled to see tears in her eyes. Without a word, she hugged me so tight I couldn't breathe, released me, turned and walked out the front door. Not-Me took my bookbag, slung it over her shoulder, and left with her.

Erek's face showed sympathy and sadness. "Are you ready to go?"

I took a deep breath and nodded. Lifting my suitcase, which only had a few changed of clothes in it, I walked out the door. Erek followed me and shut the door behind him.

Once we were out in the street, I saw him project his hologram around the both of us. I looked at him questioningly. Without his cover, he looked very much like a chrome and white-metal dog standing on two legs.

"I've taken on the outer form of a small sedan. I don't want anyone to recognize you on the way to my place. It might make for awkward questions by anyone who just saw you walk down the street with Rachel." He took the suitcase from my hand. "If you'll climb on my back, we can be on our way."

"What do you mean?" I asked, but I managed to find a foot hold on his back and climb on.

As an answer, he started running. Fast. As though the Sedan he had disguised himself as was driving down the street. I wanted to tell him to slow down, but the wind as we sped by was just too loud for speech.

We reached a four way intersection and he slowed down at the stop sign.

"Really?" I asked him, aghast.

"Hey, what kind of law-abiding android would i be if I disregarded road signs?" He asked playfully. Despite everything, I had to laugh.

In less that five minutes, we had reached his house. Standing on the front porch was Mr. King, Erek's fake father, and, to my shock, Jake.

"Jake, what are you doing here?" I asked. "Aren't you supposed to be at school?"

"I called and said I'd be running late," He said. He was holding a bag in his hands.

"What's that?" I nodded my head at the bag.

"Oh." He looked down. "Last night while your parents were asleep, I went to your house and got some things for you. Not much, just some stuff to make you more comfortable." He held it out to me. "Here."

I looked inside. There were two extra changes of clothes, including underwear. I was mortified at the idea of Jake in my underwear drawer, but I was glad he remembered that I needed them. There was also the pillow from my bed, my favorite coat, a teddy bear that I'd had since i was four that had lived on my dresser for the last two years, a few of my favorite books, and a number of other small things that I treasured.

I looked at Jake, wanting to thank him, but I couldn't speak. He smiled sadly at me and put his arms around me. It was all I could do not to hold back the tears.

"You should get to school before someone gets suspicious," I said, sniffing. He released me.

He looked down at me and frowned. "Are you going to be okay?"

I nodded. "I'll be fine, thanks to you."

He ducked his head. "I'll visit you later." With that, he jumped on his bike, and was gone down the street.

Mr. King looked at me with the same sympathy and regret that Erek had. "Welcome, Cassie," He said to me. He held out his arm, directing me inside. "Please make yourself at home. We've prepared a room for you upstairs."

"Thank you," I replied. The Kings' house was very nice, for a front. It had a clock on the wall, a T.V., and shelves full of books and knick-knacks. It was warm and welcoming. You'd never guess that it was inhabited by androids. Or that underneath it lay a dog park several miles in length. Think Central Park in New York, only underneath a subdivision.

"Help yourself to anything in the kitchen," Mr. King was saying. "The food is cycled out regularly. We're never sure who might come over, so we tend to stock it well, just in case."

"Thanks," I said again. "This is really good of you, taking me in and all."

"Think nothing of it," He said with a smile. "We're just happy we can help."

I paused. "Mr. King, can I ask you something?"

He nodded his holographic head. "Of course, anything."

I swallowed before asking. "The Chee who took over for me, can she tell who is a controller and who isn't?"

"Yes. All Chee can detect controllers."

"So," I began, trying to breathe. "If they get my father, she'll know?"

He understood, and looked terribly sad. "Yes, she'll know. And she'll get word to us if it happens."

I went upstairs to the room Erek showed me. It was nice. I set my suitcase and the bag Jake had given me on the bed. But I didn't unpack. I just stood there, staring. _Welcome home_, I said to myself with a great deal of sadness. I didn't feel like crying anymore. I didn't feel like anything.

Erek was there, watching my face.

"Would you like to go downstairs?" He asked me gently.

I knew what he meant. He was asking if I want to go to the underground park and play with the dogs. Erek knew I loved animals. It was the only comfort he could offer. And it was the perfect thing.

"You know," I said with a small smile. "I think I would."


	4. Chapter Three: Rachel

It happened exactly as Cassie predicted. Ten days after Cassie learned her mother was a controller, they took her father. Two weeks after that, they led Cassie down into the Yeerk pool and infested her. The were disgruntled to learn that Cassie was just a normal girl with normal problems. Worried about her school work. Liked a boy but wasn't sure if he liked her back. Had never heard anything about any Andalite bandits. Had never met an alien named Elfangor. Didn't know anything she shouldn't.

Cassie was a perfectly, disappointingly, normal human girl.

Except it wasn't actually Cassie they put a Yeerk into.

The Chee they had chosen to play Cassie had not been infested at that point; it was one of the reasons she was selected. As soon as she was infested, she began feeding us information about what was happening, not just about the Yeerks controlling Cassie's family, but also about the project they were working on.

Cassie's mother was being controlled by Sub-Visser 25, Cassie's father by the Sub-Visser's personal assistant, and the Yeerk being held captive in Chee-Cassie was another underling of Sub-Visser 25. They had come to Earth for the specific purpose of finding the Andalite bandits. A sort of task force put together by Visser One, otherwise known as Marco's mother. She was tired of Visser Three's ineptitude in dealing with the Andalite resistance on earth and was determined to handle it herself.

According to Chee-Cassie, Sub-Visser 25 was an expert in everything the Yeerks knew about Andalites' protocols and in cracking Andalite codes. She believed that the Andalites were stranded on Earth with no access to their own technology, which is why they were localized to this one town and hadn't relocated or left Earth entirely. An Andalite with a working ship would never have stayed on the planet for so long. Andalites would have had no interest in the primitive human species other than the fact that, with seven billion strong, the humans made an impressively vast, easily-controllable host species. Conquering earth would give the Yeerks overwhelming numbers, and that, she surmised, is why the Andalites made the decision to stop it. After all, as little as four years ago, the Andalites were completely unaware that the infestation of Earth was underway.

She was also the one who insisted that the Andalites were staying near the vicinity of the forest. It was the only place safe enough and plentiful enough in grass to appeal to the Andalites. This put Ax and Tobias on high alert. For several days, during a controller-led search, Tobias had stayed in my attic and Ax had lived in the underground park of the Chee. Ax had to dismantle the "scoop" he had built for himself, which is what Andalites call their homes, and erase any evidence of it. I think Cassie was happy for the company. She and Ax hadn't really seen each other since she was relocated.

Part of the land that lead into the forest that Cassie's parents owned was leveled, and they owned quite a bit of it. It took all of five weeks for Cassie's dad shut down the Clinic. He cited a lack of funding, but we all knew the real reason: the Yeerk in his head simply didn't care about taking care of animals. Some of the animals were sent to other facilities, but most he just set free with partial treatment or no treatment at all. Which meant most of them probably died.

Cassie mourned this as yet another part of her her human life ending. The Clinic had been open since before she as born; it was something she had always had in her life. Now that it was gone, Cassie felt that her last ties to her family and her childhood had been truly severed for good. I think she was hoping there was some way she could still go back. But that was no longer possible.

I felt terrible for her. I couldn't imagine how lonely she must have felt. I'm sure she thought we had abandoned her. I didn't have much of a chance to see her, because I had to help Chee-Cassie keep up appearances. Tobias checked on her every once in a while for me, and said she was having a hard time adjusting. They'd had a long heart-to-heart talk after she relocated, but he wasn't sure if it helped. She and Marco weren't especially close, and he spent a lot of time doing surveillance, so he didn't see her much. And other than the time Ax stayed there during the forest search, it wasn't safe for him to visit, so he didn't.

Her only consistent visitor was Jake. He tried to visit her as often as he could, as much as four days a week. Always at night, under cover, with Tobias as lookout, but he couldn't spent too much time at Erek's house. Erek and his father were both supposed to be controllers, and if the enemy was watching the house, it would seem strange if they got a lot of visitors who weren't also controllers.

During the four months in which all this took place, we had all laid low. We couldn't risk any further exposure. Cassie's loss had shaken us. Tobias and Ax had no family on Earth except each other, but Jake's, Marco's, and my own family could be next if we weren't careful. We avoided missions, didn't morph unless necessary, and generally did everything we could to avoid detection.

Then we learned about some serious information that risked attention. Chee-Cassie had apparently gotten huge news. We got a message from Erek on the secure line that stated it was urgent we all meet as soon as possible. It took some doing, but within two hours, we were all at Erek's house.

We had acquired a short-billed marsh wren as a less conspicuous bird morph. Harks, ospreys, and eagles were pretty unusual in the suburbs. Tobias flat out refused to morph jays or crows; he hated them. As it was, it was kind of hard to get ahold of the wren. Before we had relied on Cassie to get us new morphs, but that was not longer a possibility. It was strange having to do it all ourselves. It made us realize how much was had taken Cassie and her parents for granted.

Tobias wasn't very happy about the wren, because he lost his hawk vision, but wrens were less aggressive and more typical in residential areas, especially ones near water.

We flew into an open window and came to rest on a bookshelf. Erek, Cassie, and Chee-Cassie were already waiting for us.

I was shocked at how different Cassie looked. Jake hadn't warned me about this. No one had. She had lost a significant amount of weight and she no longer had the sturdy, vital countenance she'd had before. He clothes, which of course had never fit her properly to begin with, were now far too large for her and hung from her body like drapes. She had a hollow, empty look in her eyes and her dark brown skin had a greyish pallor. Her hair was longer and brittle and tied roughly back from her face. To be perfectly blunt, she looked sick. Really sick. Next to the Chee that replaced her, who looked like the old Cassie, the real one looked like a wraith. She must have been taking all the loss harder than I though. Harder than any of us thought.

After I demorphed, I shot a panicked look at Jake. His face was set very grim and his jaw worked. He was just as worried about Cassie as I was. Marco and Ax also looked concerned, but no one said anything.

"So, what's the new information?" I asked brusquely. I wanted to get this meeting over with so I could talk to Cassie alone.

"Visser One is convinced that, because of the lack of activity recently, that the Andalite Bandits have either relocated to another base of operations, or have finally escaped the Earth," Chee-Cassie said. "As a result, Visser One reassigned Cassie's family. They're moving out of state. Cassie's mother has already quit her job at the Gardens."

I looked at Cassie to gauge her reaction, but there wasn't one. Her face was completely blank. Likely she had already heard this.

"What's the reassignment?" Jake asked.

"There's a new experimental facility in Carson City, Nevada. DNA splicing." Erek said gravely. "They're going to be taking different animals and splicing together different DNA patterns to create better soldiers. Like the the way the Hork-Bajir were created, only with more intelligence. Very slightly more."

"I highly doubt they could make anything as creepy as a Hork-Bajir," Marco said. "Unless they crossed a Hork-Bajir with a human. That would be one nasty thing to look at. That's how the Yeerks would win; anyone that looked at something like that would hurl themselves unconscious."

He meant it as a joke. But Chee-Cassie didn't laugh. She looked at him with an identical grim expression shared by Erek and the real Cassie.

Ugh. I didn't like where this was heading. "Please tell me Marco's just being an idiot. Please," I begged.

"I'm afraid not," Erek said. "Even though humans have great numbers, the fact of the matter is, compared to some species in the universe, they're as helpless as kittens. The Yeerks are trying to find some way of making human super-soldiers by using animal DNA. And guess where they got the DNA."

"The Gardens," Jake guessed. No one missed the irony.

Ax looked sick. "They're bastardizing the Andalite morphing power. Trying to give humans an edge by transplanting animal characteristics into their genetic code. It's disgusting the depths Yeerks will sink to."

I agreed. "We can't just let them experiment on humans. We need to do something about this."

"Hey, I thought we were layiing low," Marco said. "We had a plan, didn't we? How does this change it?"

"You can't be serious," I spat at him, annoyed. "I've had enough of laying low. We need to strike back. This is getting ridiculous. With us out of commission, the Yeerks are doing nothing but winning. We need a win."

"Rachel's right," Tobias said. "We can't just sit idly by while humans are being experimented on. This is serious."

"I have serious doubts as to whether the Yeerks could even succeed in such a ludicrous endeavor," Ax sniffed.

"Regardless," Jake said. "Humans are suffering, and that can't be ignored. We should do something."

"Yes," Cassie said quietly. It was the first time she had spoken since we arrived. We all looked at her. She was staring at a spot on the floor, not making eye contact. "We should do something. It's time to go on the offensive. I'm tired of hiding. It's time to make a move."

This shocked me more than anything else. Cassie was never eager for missions. Usually I was the one who had to convince her. I was starting to have serious misgivings about this whole thing.

"What can we do?" Marco said. "Carson City is a seven hour drive from here. Even if we could stay in bird morph as long as we wanted, it could take up to a day to get there. Assuming we can even find this place. Carson City is huge, and they could have hidden it anywhere."

"I'm going with them, remember?" Chee-Cassie said. "I can feed you the location once we get there."

"What are you going to do if they expect you to help with the experimentation?" I asked her. "You're programmed for non-violence. You can't act in a way that even indirectly harms someone."

Chee-Cassie sighed. "I don't know. I haven't been given my assignment yet."

"When are Cassie's parents planning the move?" Jake asked.

"Soon," Chee-Cassie said. "Within the week. They've had controllers over all day, packing up. Most of the house is already loaded into trucks."

Jake heaved a sigh, his brow furrowed. "Alright, this is what we'll do. We wait until Cassie's family moves to Carson City. We wait until we get the location of the base. And we attack it. Destroy it. Destroy the DNA samples and all the technology they're using. Everything gets ripped to bits. Tear it to the ground. Burn it all."

I looked at him, wary. This is something I would have suggested, because it was exactly what I wanted. I wanted to demolish the whole place and leave nothing but rubble behind. I was frustrated and pissed and I wanted to do as much damage as I could to relieve my stress. It was totally a me plan. But it wasn't Jake. Jake didn't do total devastation. That's just not what he's about. But he had a look on his face. A look he'd had for months now. Angry. Vengeful. He wasn't himself.

Something was happening to us. Ever since we acquired the ability to morph, our lives had been nothing but stress, but morphing helped us. It made us feel powerful. But since Cassie's parents got infested and everything had changed, the anger and powerlessness was suddenly catching up to all of us. We needed a break. We needed to be able to be normal for a while. Go to the mall, catch a movie, or just hang out, drinking sodas, watching Ax eat paper plates and make stupid jokes. But all that had been taken away from us. We were starting to crack under the pressure. Much longer, and I wasn't sure what would happen.

Jake squinted at Chee-Cassie as though looking at her gave him a headache. "Is this the only place where the experiments are being conducted?"

"As far as I'm aware, yes," She replied. "This is a trial run, which means the tech involved will be centralized to this one base. Destroy it and it'll set the project back by at least a year."

"Good enough for me," Jake said, nodding. We had made the decision that the Chee would take our places while we were gone, much like Chee-Eina had taken Cassie's place. If we were to not return, they were to inform our families of our demise and try to protect them for us. I might not always have trusted the Chee, but I had to admit, they were good people. For people who weren't actually people.

The meeting broke up shortly after. Chee-Cassie left immediately; she was due back to report to Sub-Visser 25. Jake hugged Cassie for a long time, speaking quietly into her ear. They were no longer careful about keeping their feelings secret. There didn't seem to be much point, and besides, Cassie needed all the support she could get. Then he and Marco left.

~Are you coming with us?~ Tobias asked me in private thought-speak. He and Ax were morphing into the wrens to travel back to the forest.

I shook my head slightly.

~I'll visit you later, then.~

I nodded minutely. Then he and Ax were off. Erek left us alone.

"Cassie."

She looked at me.

I wanted to ask _are you okay_, but she so obviously wasn't. "I'm sorry I haven't been to see you in a while. I've wanted to, but with the Chee, I've had to-"

"You don't have to explain, Rachel," She said. "I understand."

"I know you do, but I should still have come to see you more," I said. I hated feeling guilty, but I deserved it. Cassie had lost everything. It wasn't right that I took her best friend away too. I sat on the bed and put my arm around her. Her shoulders were skeletal and angular. Frail. It scared me. Everything about this scared me.

Jake had changed. Cassie had changed. Tobias had changed, too, but it had happened a long time ago, back when we didn't know him well, so we didn't really recognize it when it happened. I wasn't sure how much I had changed, but I'm sure it was significant. With Marco it was hard to tell, because he was so closed off, but finding out that your own mother was the leader of the enemy you're fighting can't not change a person. One by one, we were changing. This war with the Yeerks was robbing us of our identities. When this war was over, if it ever ended, if we even survived, who would we be? I hoped I'd be someone I could still look in the eye when I saw myself in a mirror.

Later, much later, I went home. It was late; Mom was mad. I didn't care. I was shocked at how little I cared. Or I would have been, if I could feel anything except worry. I did homework robotically, not really paying attention to it. I ate dinner with no appetite. Apprehension gnawed at my insides. I didn't want to wait. I was ready to fight now.

Except that this plan wasn't a good one; even I could recognize that. We couldn't win. This wasn't well thought out, logical, or even smart. This was desperation. It was a last stand. We were going to lose. But it didn't matter. Something had to be done before it was too late.

I was in bed by the time Tobias arrived. I had left the window open, despite the warm night, and he fluttered onto my dresser. I sat up and looked at him, but I couldn't speak. I was angry with him. And he knew it.

~Rachel, I'm sorry,~ He said.

"How could you not tell me she was that bad?" I asked him. "How could you not say anything?"

~I'm sorry,~ He repeated. ~She asked me not to tell you. She knew, if you knew, that you'd do something reckless. She's still your best friend, after all. She knows you better than anyone.~

Of course. Of course she did. I scrubbed my neck with my fingernails. "This plan isn't a good one, is it? I noticed you were pretty quiet during the meeting."

~No, it's not. But what else can we do? Have you ever seen any documentaries about experimentation? A lot of test subjects die before the people doing the tests get the results they want. If we don't do something, a lot of innocent people will die terrible deaths. Probably for nothing. Ax is convinced that they can't do what they say they'll do, which means they'll keep trying, no matter the price, just to save face. We have to do something about that.~

I couldn't argue with that. "I just hope Jake isn't just rushing into this because he's trying to prove to Cassie that he's fixing things."

~That's kind of what it feels like,~ Tobias admitted. ~But it's too late to back out. We all agreed already. Even if we hadn't, are we going to let those people get experimented on?~

"I wasn't saying that," I grumbled. "It just feels like we're going off half-cocked. We've done that before, Tobias, and it never worked in our favor. Most of the time, we barely escaped with our skin. Whichever skin we happened to be in at the time, that is."

Maybe the human Tobias would have smiled, but the hawk Tobias simply tilted his head at me. ~You're worried," He said.

"No, you think?" I said sarcastically. "This whole situation has got me out of whack. Jake's not himself, and neither is Cassie. I'm really scared for her, Tobias. I don't know how to help her. She's my best friend; I should be able to do something, but I don't know what."

~We help her by helping her family,~ Tobias said. ~Find them, capture them, set them free.~

"And then what?" I asked. "Even if that were achievable, where would we go with them? What would we do?"

He sighed through thought-speak. ~I don't know, Rachel. I don't have any answers. But at least we'll try. That's all we can do.~

"Yeah," I said, rubbing my eyes. "Do you...want to stay here tonight? I'd feel better if I knew you were safe, at least."

He flew to my headboard and position himself right above my head. "Sure thing, Rachel. Get some sleep."

Three days later, Cassie's family made the move. The day after, we got a message with an address. We decided to leave the very next morning. We had each written a note for our Chee body-doubles to give to our parents should something go wrong and said goodbye to our families in a non-conspicuous way. We took only a few things with us; I brought a long the credit card that Dad had given me so we could buy food or whatever else we needed along the way. Jake brought a compass. Ax brought a map. All of which we stuffed into a small bag that I, as the biggest bird of prey, could carry in my talons without becoming tired. We left everything else behind.

We made the decision to meet on the roof of the mall, for old time's sake. The Chee had already taken over for us by this time.

"Are we ready?" Jake asked as we assembled there.

We had already stowed away our clothes and shoes. I was holding the bag in my hand and waiting. Cassie was there, and it was even more evident how unwell she was in her morphing outfit.

"Ready," I replied.

"Ready," Cassie echoed.

~I am also ready, my Prince,~ Ax said.

"Can I just say that this is completely insane?" Marco complained. "If I don't say it now, I don't think I'll get another chance. And we're all really dumb for doing it." He nodded. "There. I feel better now."

~That's Marco-Speak for 'ready,'~ Tobias said. ~We're all good to go, boss-man.~

Jake took a deep breath and began to morph. Taking the cue from him, we followed suit. I was pleased to see that Cassie wasn't having any trouble, despite her health. She still had amazing control over her morphs.

The bag fell from my hands as my fingers melted into feathers. I felt myself shrinking sharply. I closed my eyes against the feeling of falling, and when I opened them again, I had the eyes of a predator. I could see an ant on the wall of the building a mile away. It's always exhilarating morphing any animal, but some definitely have more advantages than others.

I shuffled over to where the bag had fallen to the ground and grasped it in my clawed foot.

~Let's do it,~ I said.

~Just like old times,~ Marco said fondly.

We spread our wings and flew toward the rising sun.


	5. Chapter Four: Marco

It was a bad idea. I knew it before, I knew it during, and I knew it after. But hey, why listen to the only guy in the room who makes any sense, right?

We had decided to fly instead of morph our way onto a plane because, been there, done that, didn't work out so good, didn't even get a lousy t-shirt. We flew in one and a half hour increments, to demorph, rest, and remorph. After six hours, were were all definitely tired.

Around lunchtime, Rachel, Cassie, Jake, and me stopped at a small town McDonalds on the way to refuel and rest. Ax found a meadow to run in, and Tobias found a mouse to eat, so we split up for a short time. We looked pretty weird walking in wearing workout clothes, gymnastics outfits and no shoes. We got plenty of sideways glances, but we were too tired and hungry to care. I was ravenous, but Rachel put away more than I did. Homegirl could smash a quarter-pounder or two, that's all I got to say. Jake ate some, but he spent most of our rest time making sure Cassie ate everything in front of her.

I hate to admit it, but the girl was looking rough. I hadn't seen her in months, and the first time I did a few days ago, she wasn't looking so hot. I hoped she'd have enough strength for the mission, but I wasn't optimistic. I didn't want to be "that guy", but she shouldn't have come with us. I was sure she was going to weigh us down and end up being the weak link that got us all killed. But I couldn't have told Jake that. I know him. He'd have shut me down for even bringing it up. My boy's a damn good leader, but he's got a blind spot where Cassie's concerned.

I had to give her props, though. For all her tree-hugging, hippy-dippy, save-the-whales convictions, she had always been a tough chick, and she was powering through the trip like a champ. If she was tired or not feeling it, you'd never have been able to tell.

Thirty minutes later, we met up with Tobias and Ax and were back in the air.

With the frequent stops we had to make, it took thirteen hours to reach the city. Nevada is mostly desert and there wasn't much tree cover. The sun was setting, so we landed in a golf course that had closed for the evening. Rachel left to find a thrift store and returned in three hours with a backpack full of clothes, shoes, and food. Even from a thrift store, the clothes suited us. Rachel will be Rachel, I guess. You can take the girl out of the mall, but you can't, blah-blah, you know the rest. Once dressed and fed, we began the long walk into the city.

We were all human except for Tobias, who was running cover for us. It was difficult to walk into town without looking out of place, but we were hoping there weren't too many controllers here to notice five weird kids being trailed by a pet hawk. Although, Tobias was fairly high up.

"Ax, ask Tobias if he sees anywhere that looks like a good place to crash for the night. We can plan a strategy in the morning," Jake said to Ax.

"Crash?" Ax said in a concerned voice. "What are we going to be crashing?"

"No, Ax, it means rest, sleep," Jake said tiredly.

"Oh. Oh, yes, of course. Yes, I will ask him," Ax replied awkwardly, then fell silent. Even in his human morph, Ax retained the ability to speak telepathically. "Tobias says he can see an abandoned building four hundred yards to our left that may give us some cover for the night, but it is not secure. We will need to set up a watch."

"That'll work," Jake said. "Tell him I said lead the way."

Tobias banked left and we followed him. A few minutes later, we came up to a gated, three-story, square building that looked like it was rejected for that _Urban Legends_ movie. There was rust, peeled paint, broken windows, and jagged metal everywhere. It looked partially demolished, like it had caught fire a while ago and no one could decide whether to fix it or tear it down, so they just left it as is. It was not my idea of a getaway retreat.

"Oh, good, a tetanus factory," I said. "Now I can get lockjaw like I've always wanted."

"Shut it, Marco," Rachel snapped at me. "You got a better idea?"

"Yeah, let's use that credit card and get a room at the Hilton," I suggested.

She rolled her eyes at me. "I've already spent 75 bucks today, and I've got a 150 dollar limit. If I spend much more, it'll flag the card and the company will send an alert-call to my dad. That's the last thing we need. Unless you'd like to explain to him why I'm seven hundred miles away from where I should be in another state. And we'll still need money to get back home."

No one mentioned the crushing reality that we may not even make the trip home. Confidence was key in these sorts of crazy, death-wish missions.

~Besides,~ Tobias interjected, flying close enough now to hear our conversation. ~There isn't even a Hilton in Carson City. I looked.~

"Hey, I'd be cool with a Motel 6," I said. "Anything with cable. And maybe a mini bar or a pool. "

"This'll be fine," Jake said, undercutting mine and Rachel's little tiff. "Let's find a way inside."

"Okay, but if the walls start to eat us and I don't get the chance, just assume I said 'I told you so'. It'll save us all some time," I muttered.

Rachel shot me a look of pure acid. I smiled sweetly at her.

Tobias found a weakness in the gate and we pushed our way through it. Getting into the building was no sweat, as most of the windows were blown out. The inside was strewn with glass and debris, although the second level was relatively clean.

Getting Ax up the stairs was an interesting experience, as he had demorphed as soon as we entered the building. Walking into the main part of town had take quite a bit of time and his two-hour time limit was almost up. Tobias flew into a window on the upper level and settled himself on an up-turned desk.

~So, what now?~ he asked.

"Now we sleep. But Ax is right, we need to set up a watch. Other people could use this place, too. We have to keep an eye out for squatters."

"I will take the first watch, Prince Jake," Ax said.

"I'll take the second," Cassie offered.

"No, you won't" He told her sternly. "You need to rest more than any of us."

She frowned at him but didn't argue.

"Ax first, then me, then Rachel, then Marco, then Tobias. Two hours each. That should give us all a chance to get plenty of sleep. We're going to need it."

He sat down on the ground next to Cassie, prodding her to lie down. She looked annoyed at him, but complied. Rachel took off her jacket and put it under Cassie's head.

I lay on my back and stared at the paint peeling in sheets from the roof above me. I was asleep before I could count to thirty.

Later in the night, I was woken up by voices. They were whispering, but the echo was so bad that sound carried to every corner of the room.

"I'm just trying to help," Jake was saying.

"If you want to help, don't coddle me, Jake. I'm not an invalid," Cassie replied. "You've been treating me like a baby since we left home. You and Rachel both. It's completely unecessary and I'm getting sick of it."

Uh-oh. Mom and Dad were fighting.

"Cassie, you're not well. You haven't been well for weeks. I would have preferred it if you had stayed with the Chee, to get better. We could've handled this without you."

I guess Jake wasn't turning as blind an eye as I thought. I wondered how many conversations along this line they'd had before now.

"You need all of your assets for this mission. I'm still an asset."

"Not if you're sick. To be perfectly honest, you could be a liability. I wouldn't let any of the others fight in your condition, and you know it. I can't make exceptions for you because... Just because."

Cassie was really starting to sound mad. A hint of her old strong, rock-steady nature returned to her voice. "Am I still a member of this team or not?"

"Cassie, that's not-"

"Am I or not?"

"Of course you are, Cassie, but-"

"Then treat me like one," She said vehemently. "If I want to take a watch, assign me a watch. If I volunteer for a mission, don't try and convince me it's in my best interest not to go. It's in all our best interests not to go, but we do it anyway because we have to. I hate this war, and I hate fighting, but you know as well as I do that we don't have any choice. People are going to die and we have a duty to stop it, otherwise everything we did up to this point means nothing. I have as much right as any of you to be here. More, because it's my parents. So don't tell me I'd have been better off not coming, because you know that's not true. This is my mission and you know it."

There was silence for a moment.

"Welcome back to the team, Cassie," Jake said quietly. I could hear the smile on his face. Then I heard kissing sounds. Gross.

"Get a room, you two," I said as quietly as I could.

"Shut up, Marco," I heard Jake's slightly muffled reply, completely unabashed. Cassie laughed softly.

I fell back to sleep shortly after. Sometime later, Rachel woke me for my watch. Jake was curled around Cassie underneath an old jacket. Both were asleep. Ax was kneeling on all fours like a horse with his head bowed onto his chest. The creepiest thing is that his stalk eyes were still open and tracking me. Tobias was settled on Ax's curved tail with his head under one wing. Rachel laid down on Cassie's other side. I think she was asleep as soon as her head hit her arm.

I paced around the building, looking out windows as I passed them. It was a little past four in the morning. Calm. Quiet. Weird.

As much as I had really enjoyed the down-time these past few months, it had been too much. I guess the year and a half of the constant fighting and battles and such had made me restless in times of relative peace. It seemed strange to be standing still for so long. It made me edgy, nervous, ready to move.

Ugh. I was turning into Rachel. All this quiet reflection couldn't have been good for me. Maybe when this was all over, I'd take a fishing trip with Dad. Forever. Sail to Costa Rica and never come back.

In two hours, the sun began to rise. I woke Tobias and laid myself out with a sigh of gratitude and shut down my reaching brain. Sleep came quickly.

In what felt like the blink of an eye, we were all up and readying ourselves for the assault. After a breakfast of pop-tarts and warm bottled water, we pulled out the map.

"The facility is located here," Jake said, pointing to the left side of the map, which was about two miles from our current location. "We morph birds until we get within range, find cover, then morph into cockroaches. The roaches have better vision than the flies."

~That's not saying much,~ Tobias grumbled.

"You'll manage," Jake said shortly. "Once we're in and in a stable position, go straight to battle morphs. We'll split into teams, Cassie and Marco with me. Rachel, Tobias, and Ax together. Rachel will lead the second team."

"Oh, goody," I said to myself. Rachel sent me a withering look.

"When we find our point of attack, we break off and do as much damage as we're able. Free as many humans as we can in the process. If we find a pool inside, we take it out."

~Most of the test subjects will be free,~ Ax said. ~They won't risk infesting them until they are certain their experiments have worked to spare the Yeerks the pain of undergoing the tests. Though there is no way of knowing how many test subjects they have acquired.~

"They could have gotten them from anywhere," Cassie said. "Homeless people, advertising free medical care in impoverished areas of the city, runaways, elderly people from state homes. As sad as it is to say, it's not hard to find people that won't be missed." Her face was impassive, but her eyes were sad. She recovered quickly. "And remember, the entrances and exits may have bio-filters, so we need to find an alternate way to get into the building," she said.

"Agreed," Jake replied. "Vents, air ducts, cracks in the walls. Keep an eye out for guards. They won't be expecting us this far from our home town, especially if they think we've left Earth."

"I say that's a perfect reason to bust down their front door," Rachel said. "They'll never see it coming and they'll be scrambling to cover their asses."

Jake shook his head. "We can do more damage from the inside out. We don't want to get shut down before we even reach our target. Stealth is better at first. Once we get in, do what you do best: smash things."

Rachel closed her eyes and inhaled through her nose. "God, I love it when you say things like that," She breathed.

"Slow your roll, She-Hulk," I said. "We still have to consider that this is a Yeerk-controlled facility. Which means we'll be dealing with all the usual suspects. Humans, Taxxons, Hork-Bajir, Gedds, and whatever else they can throw at us. They may not be seeing us coming, but it won't take long to figure out what's happening."

~We also have another factor to consider,~ Ax said. ~Do we know if either Visser will be present? This is Visser One's project, so it is unlikely Visser Three will be a part of it, but we must still be wise to the possibility of both of them overseeing it.~

They all cast covert glances at me, and I knew what the looks meant.

"Look," I said. "Only part of the reason we're going in is to free Cassie's parents. If we can free my Mom, too... I'm not going to lie to you, that would be amazing. But it's not our main goal. The goal is to shut this place down. Everything else is secondary. Including our parents."

I shared a look with Cassie. She knew how much it cost me to say it, because she was feeling it herself. We both could have parents in that building standing in our way, and if we couldn't free them, we might have to kill them. Cassie and me didn't see eye-to-eye sometimes, but we suddenly had a kinship not shared by the others, with the exception of maybe Jake. But, unlike me, if we failed and managed to somehow survive, she had no one to go back home to. I couldn't imagine that. No wonder she looked so eaten up.

"The message we got from Chee-Eina didn't mention it, but it is a factor to keep in mind," Jake said. "We'll have to worry about that once we're inside." He took a deep breath. "Are we ready?"

We all assented. Within two minutes, we were in our respective bird morphs, flying to our doom.

Would this be the last time I ever got to fly? I tried to drink it in, to give over to the bird instinct, which wasn't afraid. Why would he be? The sky was his domain, and he felt right at home. For the time it took to fly to the facility, I let Marco go and receded into the bird mind. It was comforting to not think for a while. To not think about whether my mom would be in that building. And what I might have to do if she was. Hard decisions lay ahead of us; decisions I didn't want to make. The osprey didn't worry about things like that. Ospreys didn't worry, period. Ospreys were the best.

But when I saw the building, it brought me back to reality. It was a large, glittering white building sitting smack in the middle of the business district of the city. It was shaped like a large L and was obviously some sort of medical research building. It even said so on the side in big, bold letters. There was an empty helicopter pad on the west side of the building. It had a flat roof with three access doors leading down into the main part of the building, two on either side of the building, and one in the crook of the L. We circled the building twice, looking for suspicious activity, but we didn't see anything odd.

We landed in the crook of the building. There were no guards or any sort of security. We had seen air vents in our descent; the obvious choice for infiltration. Too easy. It was all too easy. Something was definitely going to go wrong.

People might call me paranoid, but I think I have a healthy respect for reality, and reality is that life sucks. Life does everything it can to screw you over until the day you die. Am I cynical? Yes. And I have every reason to be. I'm a teenage human/animal shapeshifter who spent two years believing my mother drowned and spent that whole time trying to keep my dad from either offing himself or just giving up and forgetting to eat from the depression of losing his wife. Only to find out that the high-ranking Yeerk in her head faked her death so that she could leave the planet to do evil Yeerk things. Which I found out after meeting an alien, getting morphing powers, and becoming buddies with the alien's little brother. All while fighting evil alien brainworms. You'd be paranoid and cynical, too.

~We're clear,~ Jake said. ~Demorph and get ready to go roach.~

~Can I just say, 'gross?'~ I said.

~Yes, Marco, your disgust is duly noted,~ Rachel said. ~Can we just get on with it?~

Restless Xena ready to get herself killed. I sighed inwardly. Is it sick that I kind of missed this a little bit?

We demorphed and remorphed quickly. The cockroach mind was easy to tame, since we had done it before. New morphs were always the hardest to control, because their instincts can be pretty strong. Ever been a dolphin? All those things want is to play and dance around in the water. Dogs are nothing but big goofs that want to have fun all the time. Birds of prey are confident, ruthless predators. And termites... Well, let's not talk about termites. Or ants, for that matter. Let's not talk about bugs at all.

Except the roaches. Despite being gross, their minds are pretty empty, making them easy to control. Oh, that sounded horrible. Nevermind, forget I said that. Let's go back to not talking about bugs.

~You know,~ Cassie said as we made our way to the air duct. ~I did some research while I was living with the Chee about the different animals we acquired. Did you know that cockroaches are fastidiously sanitary insects and don't spread germs because of their incessant need to clean themselves. In fact, bacteria doesn't actually stick to them; they are only as dirty as the surface they are standing on. They also eat the eggs of more dangerous pests, like termites, fleas, lice, and army worms.~ She paused as we looked down into the dark tunnel of the vent. ~They also eat mold and fungus.~

~That is actually rather fascinating,~ Ax said sincerely.

~Yeah, those are all fun facts, Cassie, thank you for sharing,~ I replied, less sincerely. What happened to not talking about bugs?

~Side note, I suddenly like the internet a little more than I used to,~ She said. We were trucking down the dark air vent in a single file line. ~Once the Chee showed me how to use it, that is. The Chee are really good teachers. I thought not living with my parents meant no school, but boy, was I wrong. One of the Chee has been an educator for the past thousand years. Graduated from Harvard. Four times. And was a professor at Yale _and_ Cambridge. You can bet he didn't let me get away with not studying for four months.~

~Sucks to be you, Cass,~ I said.

~I don't know about that,~ She said, somehow managing to smile in her thought-speak voice. ~If I ever do get to go to college, I'll have a hell of a reference.~

We were beginning to see light, and we followed it until we were out of the vent and on the ceiling. It was hard to see exactly what has around us, but we seemed to be in a room full of coffins. My tiny roach heart practically jumped out of my chest.

~I am officially creeped out,~ Tobias said. ~Are those what they look like?~

~If you mean, do they look like stasis pods, then yes, they are exactly what they look like,~ Ax answered.

~Stasis pods?~ Jake echoed. ~Is there anything in them?~

~I cannot tell, Prince Jake. These inferior insect eyes cannot see the controls or into the shell of the pod.~

~Do you see anyone in the room?~

~No, Prince Jake. Stasis pods, once operational, do no require much maintenance. It is unlikely there would be any controller operators unless the system went down or a pod malfunctioned.~

There was a pause while Jake thought about this. You can almost hear Jake's gears turning sometimes.

~Alright, this is as good a time as any. Demorph.~

We detached ourselves from the ceiling and landed on the floor with a thump, demorphing. As we regained our human vision, we could see that the room was much bigger than we had realized, mostly because it was very dark. The only light in the room came from the window on the door that led to the hallway.

There were at least fifty pods in the room, lining the walls and free-standing in neat columns. They weren't on tables or cradles; they were hovering two feet from the ground on their own. They did look a lot like coffins, even with human vision, except there was a window softly lit from the inside in which a person could view the contents of the pod.

Cassie was the first to fully regain her human form. The first thing she did was to look into one of the pods. A sickened look passed over her face.

Inside the pod was a woman of maybe twenty five, thin and covered in sores. I'd seen documentaries about drug addicts, and I was guessing heroin. But I suspected that's not why Cassie was disgusted. She went from pod to pod, realizing they were all full.

"This is awful," She whispered. "Can't we free them now?"

~Not unless we were to manually wake them from the stasis,~ Ax explained. ~Which is dangerous without knowing the protocols. There is a process one would have to follow, because the pods are essentially life-support systems, controlling the output of the organs and activity of the brain. And as crude as Yeerk technology is, I am unfamiliar with this system. I could end up inadvertently causing a cessation of normal brain function, rendering the subjects brain-dead.~

"So we can't just pull the plug or shut the system down?"

~Not unless we wanted to kill every human in stasis and alert the yerrks to our position,~ Ax replied seriously.

"Great," Rachel said darkly. "I hate it when a plan gets complicated. What happened to just smashing up the place? I liked that plan. That was a good plan."

Jake sighed. "There's nothing we can do for them now," He said. "The plan doesn't change. We have a job to do, so let's get to it. We can't waste time."

We remorphed into our respective battle morphs; I became Big Jim the gorilla, Rachel a grizzly, Cassie a wolf, Jake a tiger, and Tobias a Hork-Bajir. Ax's battle morph was his own Andalite body. There weren't many morphs that could trump that wicked tail-blade of his.

Ax opened the door and we all filed into the hallway, which was blessedly empty.

~This is where we split up,~ Jake said tersely. ~Rachel, you good to go?~

~You know it,~ She said back.

~Good. You take the left side of the hallway, we'll take the right. If you get into trouble, call us in thought-speak. If we're in range, we'll come back to bail you out.~

~And vice versa,~ Tobias said. He didn't use the Hork-Bajir's mouth because it was technically a beak. Hork-Baijir were capable of speech, but talking around that was a little daunting, I'd wager.

~Good luck, you three,~ Jake said.

~You as well, Prince Jake,~ Ax replied.

They were off down the hall. We turned and went our own way.

The first turn of the hallway is when we ran into opposition.

"Hey!" One of the men in front of us yelled. "Is that a freaking tiger?!"

"Andalites!" One of the others said. "It has to be!"

"Visser One said they'd left Earth," Another said, unsure.

"It doesn't matter; kill them to be sure." They raised their dracon beams.

The thing about it is, in our home town, the controller were used to being run down by large, wild, carnivorous animals. These controllers were not. They had likely never even fought someone in morph. Or seen a tiger or a gorilla or a wolf up close in either of their Yeerk or human lives. That tends to make things a bit easier for us.

I grunted and hooted and generally made a huge ruckus, banging my fists on my chest. Cassie growled fiercely. And then Jake opened his big tiger mouth and roared loud enough to turn bones into jello, and that was the end of it. The controllers turned tail and ran for their lives.

~That's never not awesome,~ I said.

~Stay alert,~ Jake said. ~There will be more of them.~

~Thank you, Captain Killjoy.~

~Come on, guys,~ Cassie said, and she was off down the hallway. Back down the hall where we had come from, there was suddenly a lot of yelling and crashing sounds, followed by a grizzly's bellow. I had no doubt that Rachel was in her element and having the time of her life. I'm sure Tobias and Ax were doing their best to keep up.

Down the hall, we turned and encountered more controllers and more dracon beams. We didn't even slow down. We plowed right into them, knocking many to the floor. I picked up two controllers and hurled them against the wall, rendering them unconscious. Cassie pulled a guard's dracon beam from her hand and crushed it in her powerful jaws. The guard ran. Once the controllers were mostly incapacitated, or at least on the ground and groaning, we continued on.

At some point, I passed a window that made me skid to a halt and peer inside. There were six human controllers gathered around a table, upon which was a young guy strapped down. He was fully awake and struggling against his bonds.

~Guys, in here!~ I called to Cassie and Jake. ~They're testing in here!~

They doubled back as I was breaking the door down. The controllers, most of whom were scientists and not armed, turned and stared. Jake roared again and they backed against the wall.

As Jake stood in front of the controllers, keeping them pinned, Cassie and I went to the guy on the table, trying to release him. He stopped struggling, breathing hard, and watched us with wide eyes.

"What's going on in here?" A voice asked from behind us.

I knew that voice! As I turned, a door had opened to the back of the room, and several human and Hork-Bajir controllers came in, followed by- Cassie's mother!

Cassie froze. Her demeanor completely changed. Her head and tail went down, like she had been chastised. She whimpered faintly.

~Keep it together, Cassie,~ Jake said to her.

"Well, well, well," Cassie's mom said. Or rather, Sub-Visser 25 said. "It seems I was mistaken. The Andalite bandits _are _still on Earth. Visser One will be a little put-out, but she'll be more than pleased when I hand them to her gift-wrapped." She turned to one of the Hork-Bajir behind her. "Send word to Visser One and tell her she needs to return to the facility immediately. Tell her it's urgent."

The Hork-Bajir bowed and exited the room.

So my mom wasn't here. I didn't know if I was relieved or upset.

"But the collection isn't complete, I think," the Sub-Visser said. "Where are the others?"

None of us said anything.

Sub-Visser 25 shrugged. "No matter. They're in the building, I'm sure. It's only a matter of time before we find them as well." She turned to the other controllers "Take them to experimentation room seven and hold them there. It won't be long before they have to demorph." She turned to the kid still strapped to the table, struggling again.

~Jake, what do we do?~ I asked him.

~There's too many for us to fight on our own,~ He said. ~I'm trying to call Rachel and the others. Hopefully they're having better luck than us.~

Yeah, that was likely.

The Hork-Bajir advanced on us and motioned roughly for us to follow them. Four in front, four in back, all armed with dracon beams.

As we walked out of the room, the guy on the table was screaming for us to come back and help him. By the time we reached the end of the hall, he wasn't screaming anymore.


	6. Chapter Five: Tobias

It's always fun watching Rachel work. And she was really shining today.

We barreled down the hallway at full speed, Rachel lumbering in her big bear body. And Ax's hooves clacking against the tile floors. I kept pace with them, trying to keep my blades from catching anyone inadvertently. We went room to room, smashing things up. Didn't matter what was in the room; we broke in, up-turned the place, and moved on. Most rooms were empty except for gurneys and simple computer consoles, but it didn't matter, we smashed indiscriminately.

~I must admit, I find this activity unnecessary, but at the same time, very enjoyable,~ Ax said.

~Of course you do, Ax,~ Rachel said gleefully. ~Breaking things is scientifically proven to relieve stress.~

~It is?~

~Remember, don't get too carried away,~ I reminded them both. "We need to find the DNA sample room. Most of the pertinent technology will be there.~

~Don't rain on my parade, Tobias. This is the most fun I've had in months,~ Rachel laughed.

We went back into the hallway, and turned a corner. There, at the end of the hall, were two large steel doors guarded by several men armed with dracon beams. They yelled at us to stop. Rachel bellowed back in answer.

~How much do you want to bet me that that is the room we're looking for?~ I asked.

Dracon beams fired all around us. Rachel got hit on the shoulder, burning a chunk of her flesh away, but it didn't even slow her down.

~Hit 'em hard!~ She yelled.

We ran them down and they scattered like bowling pins. I uppercut two at the same time and they went down like sacks of potatoes. The flat of Ax's tail struck again and again, and every time it did, a controller went down. And Rachel...well...Rachel was Rachel. In a short time, there was a pile of unconscious controllers at our feet.

~We need to break the door down,~ Rachel said. ~On the count of three, ram it.~

We all backed up to almost the end of the hallway.

~Three!~

We ran full speed at the door.

~I feel that this is not the best option!~ Ax yelled as we sped down the hall.

~Shut up and run!~ She shot back.

We hit the door like a freight train and it crashed open. Inside were several scientist-controllers huddled in a semi-circle around a piece of equipment in the center of the room. It appeared to be a flat white table raised to mid-height, also hovering above the ground like the stasis pods. Around the outside of the table were many screens, and next to the screens were a panel of controls. In the interior were thin, rectangular holes spaced evenly across it in rows of six, ten across. The walls were lined with rectangular vials hanging on special hooks. They were full of a thick, red fluid, probably blood. The vials looked like they would fit into the holes of the table perfectly. And there were many of them.

~Well, we're certainly in the right place,~ Ax said. ~That's a DNA replicator. We use it on the Andalite home world to store and replicate the DNA of off-world creatures. How did the Yeerks get their filthy hands on one?~

~Ax, tell the controllers to get lost,~ Rachel said privately.

~Yeerks,~ Ax said magnanimously. ~If you wish to live, you will leave this room immediately. Otherwise we will kill you and your hosts.~

"If we leave this room, Visser One could kill us for insubordination," One of the scientist-controllers said.

"Yeah, but if we stay, they definitely will kill us," Said another.

"Andalite filth," One of them spat at us. "You can't win this war. This will only be a small victory in the long term.~

~Perhaps,~ Ax said acidly. ~But it will still be a victory.~

They sneered. Rachel bellowed again. They jumped and ran out of the room.

~Good work, Ax,~ Rachel said. ~Now, let's get to work. You know more about the replicator than we do, so you dismantle it. We'll destroy the vials."

Ax stepped up to the table and pressed several buttons. There was the sound of a machine powering down, and then the table ceased to hover and hit the ground hard. The giant thud reverberated throughout the room. He then proceeded to take off on of the panels and tear tubes and wires out of the machine, then began striking it over and over again with his tail.

Rachel and I, with a swipe of our hands, began to knock the vials from the wall. They hit the ground and shattered. Before long, there was enough blood at our feet to film a horror movie. When we looked back, the replicator table was a gnarled, shattered mess. Ax was standing over it, breathing hard.

~I think I can say with complete confidence that phase one of the plan is complete,~ Rachel said.

~Agreed,~ I replied. ~Let's con-~

But before I could finish the sentence, Jake's broken thought-speak invaded my mind.

~Rachel...pinned down...help...don't...taking us...experimentation room seven...hurry...~

~Prince Jake and the others must be in trouble,~ Ax said. ~We must go to their aid.~

~We'll double back,~ Rachel said. ~Experimentation room seven must be along the same way we came.~

We rushed out and back down the hallway, checking door signs as we went.

~Rachel, it's there!~ Ax yelled, pointing at a room to our right down the hall. There were Hork-Bajir guards in the front of it armed with more dracon beams. They saw us coming and leveled their weapons at us, hissing.

The first flashes of beam fire fizzled through the air and caught me in the side. The pain of it was distant and undaunting. Hork-Bajir bodies experienced pain differently than humans. Most of their nerve endings were around their organs and in their heads, leaving few in their thick skin. Which was helpful with how they ate. They used their many blades to strip bark from trees. I could imagine they got a lot of splinters stuck in their skin, and if the splinters were large enough, they'd have to use their blades to get them out. Creating them so that the nerve endings weren't plentiful in their skin was a smart move.

They also healed quickly. I could already feel the burn in my side closing up and scabbing over. The others were not as fortunate as me. Ax caught a beam in his right arm, shearing off a large area of skin and muscle.

~Ahh!~

~Ax!~ I cried.

~I am alright,~ He said thinly. ~Prince Jake needs us!~

I didn't argue. He was right. We had to break through this line to get into the room to them. They might be in worse shape than us.

Ax struck out with his tail and cut off the arm of what Hork-Bajir that was holding the beam that shot him in the arm. The Hork-Bajir screamed and went down, holding his stump. Rachel used the distraction to take down two more of the guards, and I was left with the fourth. I grabbed his head and smashed it against the wall again and again, until he wasn't moving anymore.

I shook violently. My blood was pumping in my ears. I looked into the window of the experimentation room, hoping that our friends were still alive. And my heart sank into my clawed toes.

Cassie, Jake, and Marco were being cornered in the brightly-lit white room with six Hork-Bajir and six human controller security guards. All armed. And standing in front with a dracon beam pointed right at our friends was Cassie's dad.

There was no time to think. We burst into the room. Then it was absolute chaos. We fought, but there were too many. We couldn't overpower them and we got bent trying.

This was it. We were finished. They were coming down on us and we were backed against the wall. I was bleeding pretty heavily. Ax was cut across his torso and was holding his lungs inside his chest with his hands. Jake was unconscious. Marco had lost a leg. Cassie was wheezing, blood and air bubbling out of a gash in her neck. Large parts of Rachel's fur and skin was blown off. We were dead.

~God, Rachel, I'm sorry,~ I said to her desperately. ~I wish we'd had more time together. I'm so sorry.~

~It's okay, Tobias,~ She said back weakly. ~It was worth every second. I wouldn't trade any of it.~

I put my monstrous hand on her head. ~You know that I...~ I choked.

~I know, Tobias. Me too.~

They were advancing on us. Cassie's father leveled a dracon beam right at his own daughter, though he didn't know it. And fired.

Nothing happened.

"What the..." He banged it against his hand, trying to get it to work. Suddenly, the computer screens went blank. The light's flickered. Every electronic device in the room was malfunctioning.

Now! Now was our time to escape.

But before we could, the door opened. Eight addition Hork-Bajir entered the room, wearing different uniforms. Strangely, they were not carrying dracon beams, but ordinary guns modified for them to use more easily. Following them were eight women and four men, wearing identical uniforms as the Hork-Bajir. They were all muscular and athletic looking, and were also holding guns. Following them was a girl, flanked by four more Hork-Bajir.

She appeared to be the approximate age as me and the others, though she was very small and slight. She was shorter than Marco or Cassie. She wore no uniform, but a flowy sort of dress that fell to the floor. She had on long fingerless gloves that extended to her upper arms. She carried no weapon, but held in front of her some sort of large briefcase, the handle of which she clutched in both hands. She was extraordinarily pale, as though she never saw sunlight. She had an egg-shaped face with a narrow chin and high cheekbones, and a small smile that seemed to never leave her face. But the most striking thing about her was her hair and her eyes. She had normal human eyes, except that they were large, tilted, almond shaped, and black; so dark that they reflected no light but instead seemed to absorb it. Her hair, on the other hand, was a silvery white color, cascading down her back like a silk veil to her waist. Her eyebrows and lashes were also white, so that it looked like her eyes were framed in spider silk.

As soon as she entered the room, every single controller snapped to attention.

"Visser 18!" Cassie's dad exclaimed. "Forgive the state of the facility, please. We did not expect your visit."

"Of course not, Dullan 4-4-2," The girl said. Her voice was high and soft, like a child's, and she spoke with a very slight accent that I couldn't place. "This is a surprise inspection. And I must admit, I'm disappointed. When Visser One exalted the magnificence of this facility, she led me to believe there would at least be a little more...tidiness."

"My apologies, Visser," Dullan said. "We have been having... difficulties."

"So I see," She replied impassively. She turned her strange gaze on us. "What do we have here?"

"The Andalite bandits, Visser," He said, bowing his head. "They must have done something to our equipment. Nothing is working properly"

The five of us still conscious were watching this exchange, and I noticed something curious. The Hork-Bajir and the humans guarding the Visser were slowly and discreetly fanning out throughout the room, coming up behind controllers belonging to Sub-Visser 25, and closing ranks.

~There's something strange about this Visser,~ I said privately to the others.

~What are you talking about?~ Marco asked.

~I don't know, but look at her lackeys,~ I replied. ~They're taking a battle stance, don't you notice?~

~You're right,~ Ax said, his speech labored. ~She is...unusual.~

"Please, Visser, I most humbly beg your forgiveness. Allow me to send a message to Visser One. She will want to know you've arrived."

"How will you do that if all your equipment has failed?" She inquired mildly. Her guards had created a huge circle in the room. Both the sub-visser's guards and us were trapped within it.

~Something's about to go down,~ I said. ~We need to get out of here.~

~Agreed,~ Said Jake woozily. He got unsteadily to his feet.

~Welcome back, brother,~ Marco said.

~Thanks,~ He said. ~Fill me in. Who's that girl?~

~They called her Visser 18, but she's not acting like a normal controller,~ Marco explained. ~I'm really confused by what's going on.~

~You and me both,~ I said.

~All I know is that we need a way out. The room is full of enemies, and none of the dracon beams or technology is working. This is the perfect time to make an escape,~ Rachel said.

~They've still got perfectly good guns,~ Marco pointed out.

~Rachel's right, if we're going to try and excape, now is the time to risk it,~ I said. ~Ax is in a bad way, and he needs to morph to recover himself. If he doesn't do it soon, he'll bleed to death.~

~I can still fight, Prince Jake.~

~Don't be stupid, Ax,~ I said shrilly. ~Your guts are falling out!"

~We go now,~ Jake said.

We all got up and readied ourselves to bust through the line, but as we were about to make a break for it, we heard an unfamiliar voice in our heads.

~Not yet,~ it said to us. ~Wait just one moment longer.~

~What the hell was that?!~ Marco cried.

~You guys,~ I said, incredulous. ~I think it came from _her_.~

~Who, the girl?~ Rachel said. ~How is that even possible?~

"If you give me a moment," Dullan was saying, fiddling frantically with the contols on the console next to him. "I'm sure we will have the communication system back online. Just give us a few minutes."

"Oh, I'm afraid I can't allow that," Visser 18 said with her small smile. Her eyes glimmered like beetle shells.

Dulan stopped, looking confused.

"...what?"

Then the Visser did something I've never seen anyone do, ever. She reached up and gently placed her hand on the face of the nearest Hork-Bajir guard. It knelt down next to her, so that they were eye-to-eye, and she patted it's beak fondly.

"Bring him to me," She said to it softly.

Suddenly, the room was in a panic. The guards of Visser 18 had positioned themselves in the perfect way to subdue every other controller in the room. They fought and yelled, but with no guns and armed only with useless dracon beams, they were quickly secured, leaving everyone, including ourselves, extremely baffled by the entire turn of events. Soon, all but the Visser's personal security team were in headlocks, choke-holds, or staring down the blade of a Hork-Bajir's arm.

The Hork-Bajir forcibly dragged Cassie's dad in front of this small, seemingly weak young girl. She looked down at him with a sadness, a sympathy. She leaned forward and placed her hands on his shoulders, looking him squarely in the eye. When she spoke again, she stunned us all.

"I'm speaking now to the human being controlled," She said. "It's about to get very uncomfortable for the next few minutes. But hang in there, okay? It won't be long."

Dullan forced a horrified look onto Cassie's father's face. He tried to squirm away, but he was held fast in position by the blades of two Hork-Bajir. Visser 18 stepped behind him, dragging the large, shiny black briefcase with her. One of the women stepped up to it and opened it. Inside was what looked like console with many dials and gauges. I couldn't figure out what it was.

"Human male, approximately 35 to 40 years of age, height at 6 feet, 2 inches, estimated weight at 225 pounds. Please adjust the current accordingly," The Visser said to the technician.

The woman nodded, playing with several of the dials. Then she flipped a switch. A loud electronic whine permeated the room. The woman then handed a device to the girl that was connected to the briefcase by a cord. The device had two stubby metal prongs on the end and a button.

"Step away," the Visser said to the Hork-Bajir. They complied.

Suddenly, I realized what it was and what they were about to do. But before I could say anything, Visser put the prongs against the back of Cassie's dad's neck and pushed the button.

The electric shock that was administered to his brain made his whole body go rigid and his eyes roll back into his head. He fell backwards, and she caught his head before it hit the ground. Shouts of outrage from the other controllers filled the room.

~Dad!~ Cassie cried, though in the din, I hoped no one but us heard her. She started forward, but Rachel held her back.

~Wait, Cassie, just wait,~ She said.

In an airless moment, we watched Dullan flail helplessly on the ground, his head cradled by the Visser.

"It's coming out," She said.

Incredibly, as we watched, the Yeerk in Cassie's father's head wiggled it's way out of his ear. As it did, another of the guardsmen grasped it with large tweezers and pulled it out the rest of the way, depositing it into a container he'd had ready.

~Oh, my God,~ Cassie said. From the way her voice sounded, if a wolf could have cried, she would have been.

It took another several minutes for Cassie's father to stop trembling. Two of the Hork-Bajir lifted him carefully and put him on the stretcher that was at one end of the room, and wheeled him out. Cassie tried to follow, but she was still held by Rachel.

The girl stood straight-backed and confident in the middle of the room. "I speak now to all the Yeerks present," She said, her small voice carrying through the silence. "I am giving you an option to vacate your hosts willingly, without fighting. Do so,and we will spare your lives. If you do not, we will force you out, as you just saw, and you will be executed. You have one minute to evacuate your hosts before this happens."

The cornered controllers looked at one another. One by one, they lowered their heads to the ground. One by one, a slimy, disgusting slug slid out of their ears. One by one, they began to cry and shout and thank the girl for freeing them. She shook their hands and hugged them and touched their shoulders as they came forward.

"Take them to the ship and have the doctors check them out," She told one of the men. Then she turned to her Hork-Bajir guards. He handed her a sort of high-tech walkie-talkie.

"Begin the purge," she said into it.

"Copy," a male voice said back.

The humans began hustling the now freed controllers out of the room. Some of them had been controllers so long that they had forgotten how to work their own bodies and had to be carried. The Hork-Bajir guards did the same for their bladed brethren.

Finally, after an eternity, the room had emptied and we were alone with just the girl and two of her female bodyguards. One was a tall red-head with her thick, curling hair tied back tightly and a heart-shaped face. The other was a shorter, neat-faced Asian woman with small eyes and short hair dyed sky blue. They both looked like they were in their mid-twenties and were very serious looking, armed to the teeth, and stood at attention behind the girl, moving as she moved.

The girl who had called herself Visser came to stand in front of us. She looked us up and down with a grim expression on her face.

"You must morph into another form to repair your body, or you risk bleeding to death," She said.

Ax stared at her. ~You are not a controller,~ He said simply.

The girl smiled. "Just figured that out? Well, I suppose I should take the fact that you're actively dying right in front of me into account."

~Who are you?~ I asked.

She smiled. "I'm called Sapheda. And no, I'm not a controller. You must all demorph or you could die of your injuries."

No one demorphed.

~How did you get past the bio-filters?~ Rachel aked.

She reached into the neckline of her dress and pulled out a tube set on a string. Inside was a lot of purple liquid and a-

~Yeerk!~ Ax exclaimed.

"Yes," Sapheda said. "This _is _actually Visser 18. We captured her several months ago and have been filtering out Yeerk secrets from her since then. Because of that, we've been able to fool many Yeerks into revealing secret facilites like this one. We had actually planned on purging this building before we even realized you were here. Eventually they'll figure out that she's been captured, but for now we've been use her to get past security." She smiled again. "I can't believe I'm actually meeting the Andalite resistance. But please, demorph. Your injuries are severe. And your morphing limit must almost be up."

~Jake, what do we do?~ I asked.

~I don't know,~ He said. ~But she just freed an entire room of controllers in less than ten minutes. If we can trust anyone, it would have to be someone who can do that.~

~So do we just demorph right in front of her?~ Rachel said.

~You got a better idea? She's right, we're half-dead and our limit is almost up. What choice do we have?~

We said all of this in private thought speak. She stood patiently as we debated this, not interrupting.

Ax staggered and nearly fell to his knees.

~Ax, morph. Now. Doesn't matter what,~ Jake said.

Ax began to morph an African elephant. I think he did it to intimidate the girl, but Sapheda watched curiously as he completed the morph and then demorphed. When he was done, the damage to his torso had been repaired and his arm was whole again.

"There, now," She said, addressing Ax. "May I ask you your name?"

Ax seemed taken aback. ~I am Aximilli-Esgarrouth-Isthill.~

Her eyes widened. "Ah! Brother of the famous War-Prince Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul. It is my honor to meet you."

Ax was even more abashed. "I thank you."

"Please, the rest of you must demorph. You must all be in terrible pain," She pleaded.

~Well, there's a slight problem with that," Jake said.

"What sort of problem?" She asked, stricken. "Have you gone past your two-hour limit?"

~No, that's not it,~ Marco said. ~We don't know if we can trust you. Because we aren't like Aximilli-Esgarrouth-Isthill over there.~

"Not like him in what way?" She asked, confused.

~Well,~ Said the wolf to my right. ~In the way that my name is Cassie.~

"Cassie?" Sapheda said. "But that's not-" And then the light of realization came over her face. "Oh. Oh, no. No,no, no, you've got to be joking!" She put a hand to her mouth and laughed so hard that she bent double. Her laughter was high and bell-like. "Are you telling me you're _human_?"

That was it. The secret was out. We all began to demorph, the others into their human selves, and me into my hawk body. The entire time, Sapheda was laughing behind her hands. The guards behind her shared baffled, sardonic looks.

"I'm sorry," She said, choking herself to a stop. "I'm sorry, it's just that... All this time the Vissers of Earth have been tearing their hair out over the Andalite bandits, and only one of them ends up actually being one. Forgive me, but that's... That's just fantastic." She looked at me, and a puzzled expression crossed her face.

~It's a long story,~ I said before she could ask.

She shrugged. "Fair enough." She smiled at us. "Well, this makes things a little more interesting, don't you think?"

Cassie stepped forward. "Please, the first man you freed a few minutes ago," She said, her voice shaky. "Where did you take him?"

Sapheda waved her hands dismissively. "Don't worry, all the freed controllers are being taken to a safe place. Now-"

"No, you don't understand," Cassie interrupted her. "He's my father."

The last traces of humor left Sapheda's face as Cassie said this. "Oh. Oh, my poor, dear child. Please, come with me, I will take you to him."

She led us out into the hallway, me riding on Rachel's shoulder. As we walked, men in full-body tactical armor walked past us in a tight line, armed with heavy semi-automatic rifles, gripped in both hands checked against their shoulders, and handguns strapped to their hips. We were nervous to see them, but Sapheda walked past them calmly and sure-footed. A few of them nodded at her as they passed, and she nodded back. We passed another line of men leading controllers in a row down to the ground level with their hands behind their heads. Jake and Rachel looked at each other, incredulous.

Sapheda was taking us back up to the roof. She opened the rooftop door and there in front of us, on the helipad, was a huge jet, painted gunmetal grey with no identifying symbols or numbers on it. We heard below us the sound of police sirens and a lot of people shouting. Periodically, there was gunfire. Without pausing, Sapheda directed us inside the jet.

We walked past empty seats lining the interior of the plane, through a door, into and out of a compartment looking like it was built for Hork-Bajir to be conveyed in flight comfortably, and finally arrived at a sort of triage located at the back of the jet. There were several doctors weaving between the freed controllers lying on gurneys and stretchers, checking their pulses, administering anti-convulsives to the ones who had been electro-shocked, and trying to comfort the rest. There, in the very back, on a stretcher lowered to the ground, was Cassie's dad. He sat crumpled with his head in his hands.

Cassie took a cautious step forward. "Dad?" Her voice wobbled with emotion.

His head snapped up. The shock on his face overtook the look of disgust and horror that had been there before. More than shock, his eyes lit with joy.

"Cassie?" He said, standing. Tears spilled from his eyes. "Is that you? I don't have my glasses, I can't see you well."

She walked forward and stopped right in front of him. I felt as though maybe we shouldn't have been watching, that maybe this reunion should be private, but none of us could move. We were mesmerized. I risked a glance at Jake, and he was also crying. For that matter, so were Rachel and Marco. A hawk couldn't cry. I was glad for that. Ax had stayed out in the hallway, uncomfortable around so many strange humans in his own body.

"Honey..." He said. He put her hands on her arms, rubbing them as though she were cold. "Did they free you too? Why do you look so different? I saw you just hours ago. What happened to you?"

She choked on her words. "Dad, that wasn't me. I was never a controller. I've been in hiding for months."

He was crying fully now. "What? I don't understand."

"I'll explain it to you," She said, sobbing into his shirt. "I'll tell you everything. Everything, I promise. I'm sorry, Daddy. I'm sorry for everything."

"No, it's not your fault, baby, it's not your fault." He whispered into her hair. He kissed her brow and wrapped his arms around her tightly. "Everything's okay, sweetheart, everything's okay now." Then they both fell silent and held each other, weeping.

I shifted uncomfortably. Having no family made me a little uneasy around familial displays of affection. I felt outside of it. ~We should leave them alone,~ I said privately to the others. They nodded, wiping their faces. We backed out of the room. Sapheda followed, shutting the door behind her.

"What about Cassie's mom?" Jake asked. "She's Sub-Visser 25."

"Oh dear," Sapheda said sympathetically. "If she's still in the building, she will be rounded up with the other controllers and taken to a holding facility outside of the city, where the Yeerk will be extracted and either executed or detained. But in the interest of full disclosure, several controllers escaped during the siege of the building. She may have been among them."

Great. It was like Marco's mom all over again. I had to remind myself that today was still a win.

Sapheda tilted her head to one side, as though she were listening to something. "Ah," she said. "The Purge is going nicely. We are no longer needed. My operative shall be joining us shortly, after which we will be on our way."

"On our way to where?" Jake asked with concern.

"To our base of operations. We've been expecting you there for quite a long time, we've just never had a address which we could send the invitation." She giggled slightly. "Now that won't be necessary."

"Are we prisoners?" Marco asked her.

She scoffed. "Hardly. You'd be honored guests. Our director is very eager to meet you." She began walking back toward the front of the ship. "Please, come with me. We'll be on our way soon."

We followed her to the cockpit, which had a large area into which people could sit and strap themselves in. She offered us seats and advised us to strap in. I expected her to sit in one on the passenger seats with us, but to our surprise, she sat down in the pilot's seat and strapped herself to it. All at once, the buttons on the console lit up. Other operatives filed into the cockpit and took their positions for take off. Strangely enough, their roles in the preflight protocols seemed secondary. The jet seemed to be doing it all itself.

"The autopilot on this jet is amazing," Marco said.

Sapheda laughed. "This jet doesn't have an operational autopilot."

"So, how is the ship just doing all that by itself?" He asked.

"It isn't," She said. "I am."

~That's impossible,~ Ax said in a haughty tone. ~Humans cannot control ships telepathically.~

"Of course not," Sapheda said, her gaze focused on a segment of the console that began to flash. "Ordinary humans can't do anything of the sort."

~Precisely. In fact, the only species that can do such things are-~ He stopped and took a step back. ~You! You're an Andalite!~

Her eyes were diverted from the launch sequence and she cast a sad smile at Ax.

"Not anymore."


	7. Chapter Six: Jake

We sat in silence as the jet flew over the Nevada desert. I could sense that we were moving farther away from home.

"Where are we going? Specifically," I added.

"New Mexico," One of the co-pilots said. He was sitting casually in his chair sipping coffee, not bothering with the controls. Sapheda was doing everything herself. Though, not physically. Her hands were folded primly in her lap and her eyes were closed as though she were asleep. "Carson National Forest, to be exact. We have a based just north of Elk Mountain."

~It's illegal to build military structures or cut down trees in national forests,~ Tobias said skeptically.

The co-pilot snickered. "It's not in the forest. It's under it. There's no law against building massive military installations three miles underground. Trust me, we checked."

I shared a look with the others. This wasn't a good situation for us to be in. Nothing was familiar or predictable. I didn't like the feeling that decisions had been taken out of our hands. A regular military base was one thing, but an underground one felt too much like a Yeerk pool. I didn't want to go down there. I felt that, even if Sapheda was telling the truth and we were just guests, being so far underground would make us be prisoners by default with no avenue of escape.

"Don't worry, Jake," Sapheda said as though she were reading my thoughts. Her eyes were still closed and she hadn't moved. "All we want to do is talk. Once that's over, you'll all have a decision to make. But what the decision may be is not for me to say. Our director is the one to whom you need to speak."

"And who exactly is that?" Rachel asked rather forcefully. She seemed really annoyed at the whole thing. I shared her sentiment. She had Tobias in her lap, holding him to keep him from being tossed around during the launch.

"His name is Roland Cord. He's been our division's director since it's inception. He's one of the first humans who learned about the Yeerk invasion." She opened her eyes and looked at us. "Almost seven years ago. But the Yeerks have been here longer than that."

I didn't ask how she knew. We looked at each other, aghast. Seven years? The Yeerks had been here for seven years? Or longer? I looked at Ax for confirmation, but he wasn't paying attention to me.

Ax stood to the side of the cockpit. He was up on his feet and not strapped into anything. Having four legs gave him more stability during turbulent air travel than the rest of us, I supposed. He was watching Sapheda curiously, suspiciously, as though he couldn't quite figure her out. She was the only _nothlit _that Ax had met besides Tobias, but Tobias he had treated with respect and sympathy. His mistrust went deeper than ours.

This was another member of his own kind, despite being a human now. I could practically hear the questions revolving in his mind. Why was she here? And how long? Was she stuck like Tobias, or did she choose to become human permanently? Why would she make such a choice? How much Andalite technology had she given to these humans? How many Andalite laws had she broken?

Not that Ax had much room to judge her. He had told us much about the Andalites, breaking many laws in his own turn. He had done it to help us in our fight, but the old Andalite judgment and disapproval was there on his face. He had his own reasons for doing what he did. But what about her? What were her reasons?

The trip across Nevada, through Utah, and into New Mexico took much shorter a time that I expected. Before long, were were over the canopy of trees of a large forest.

"There," Sapheda said, pointing. She indicated a oval-shaped clearing of green-yellow grass in the middle of the forest about a mile and a half wide. The jet slowed noticeably.

The co-pilot, for the first time in the flight, sat up and began pressing buttons.

"Kestrel One to base," He said.

A static sounded through the cockpit, and a female voice replied, "Base to Kestrel One, go ahead."

"Coming into position over hanger lift, requesting permission to land," The co-pilot said.

"Acknowledged. Stand by."

I craned my neck to look out of the window. The jet was hovering over the clearing. As I watched, the ground split into a straight line, which opened wider and wider to reveal a black hole miles deep. The jet continued to hover as a large platform rose up from the darkness, marked with white lines and a large red circle. The jet slowly lowered itself onto the platform and settled with a thump that shook the entire plane. Ax nearly tripped and was hard-pressed to keep his footing.

The platform began its descent down into the dark shaft. As we went down, the bay doors close above us, leaving us in pitch black shadow. A opaque windshield closed over the windows, adding to the eclipse. The only light was from the control pads in front of the pilots.

It took maybe three minutes to complete the descent, and when we finally stopped moving, Sapheda detached herself from her seat and advised us to do the same. We stood, stretching, and exited the cockpit into the main fuselage of the plane. We waited while the human and Hork-Bajir operatives exited the plane and met back up with Cassie and her dad. He had a dazed look on his face. No doubt Cassie had spent the entire plane ride explaining things to him; meeting Elfangor, acquiring the ability to morph, Tobias getting stuck, the battles, the terror, the realization that her mother had been infested, her hiding, the Chee that had replaced her. Everything. No wonder he had that look on his face.

He also didn't seem surprised to see the rest of us. He came forward and shook my hand wordlessly; why, I wasn't sure, but I shook it back and nodded grimly like I knew what I was doing.

Once all the operatives had left the plane, the doctors assisted the freed controllers out. Then we followed them. Once we were out, a doctor walked up to us and insisted that Cassie's dad follow him to the medical wing of the base. He apparently was still at risk of another seizure, and they wanted to keep an eye on him for a few hours. After being assured that his daughter could visit, he hugged Cassie and was led off.

We found ourselves in a gigantic hangar bay with a dozen or more jets similar to the one we had flown in parked at various degrees. There were humans and Hork-Bajir bustling around, performing different post-landing tasks. On the strip in front of us was a man flanked by a woman and a man in identical uniforms.

The man in front was a very tall, very thin, very dark-skinned black man. He wore his hair long and in very neat, tightly-spun dreadlocks tied back. He had on thin glasses and sharp, grey suit tailored to fit his gangling, spindly form. He had to be in his mid-forties, if I had to guess. It didn't take more than a second for me to realize we were looking at the director, Roland Cord.

Sapheda walked past us, trailed by her two female bodyguards, and stood at Director Cord's right side.

"I'm guessing you're the man in charge," I said, stepping forward.

"You'd be guessing correctly, son," He replied. His voice was deep and carrying. "Director Roland Cord, at your service." He extended a hand. I hesitated a moment before shaking it.

"I'm Jake," I replied. "This is-"

"Yes, Jake Berenson of Eureka, California. I'm well aware of who you are," Cord said. "As well as Cassie Bostik, Marco Ruiz, your cousin Rachel Berenson, and I'm assuming that hawk is Tobias Thorne. All aged fifteen. You do realize the school in your area has filed a missing person's report on you, young man."

We all stood there, gaping. "How did you-"

"After you entered the plane, I got an email from Sapheda containing your first names and your images taken from the research facility cameras. We've already researched the town in which had the most instances of 'bandit activity.' Which is obviously your hometown. Assuming from your appearance you were still in school, we hacked into the school system's student files and used facial recognition software to determine who you were from your file photos." He shrugged his thin shoulders. "It wasn't exactly quantum physics."

I couldn't breathe. He knew who we were. It had taken them all of thirty minutes find out the extent of our entire lives. If they were our enemies, we didn't have a chance.

Ax reacted more violently. He lashed out with his tail, the blade inches from Sapheda's neck. ~You have betrayed us!~

Cocking sounds echoed all around the room. In less time than it took to take a breath, we were surrounded by the barrels of at least twenty-five guns of varying caliber. More personnel were running in our direction, drawing their own guns.

Sapheda didn't even flinch. She stood still and silent, watching Ax with solemn eyes.

"All right, everybody needs to calm down," Cord said, his hands up. "Unless you want to be a bloody mass on the floor, you'd better take a step back and compose yourself, _aristh _Aximilli_._"

Ax's eyes widened in shock. Slowly, he retracted his tailblade. He was still angry.

So was I. So much for allies. So much for secrecy.

"Knowing what you know could get our families killed," I said tersely.

"On the contrary," Cord said. "You're families will be on their way here within the next four hours."

"_What?_"

"Look, there's a lot to explain, and it would be better done when you've eaten and rested. Perhaps you could use some clothes and shoes. I'll have Sapheda-"

"We're not going anywhere with _her_," Rachel spat.

Sapheda didn't seem perturbed. "Very well," She said. "I have duties to attend, as it is." With that, she merged with the crowd of soldiers heading into the main facility. Her bodyguards went with her.

"I'll have another of my operatives show you were you'll be staying while you're here. You'll be given clothes and shoes to wear, though I'm afraid all we have to spare here are uniforms. Then you'll be shown to the mess hall." He looked at Ax up and down, and spared a glance for Tobias as well. "You can stay in the Atrium. Another operative will show you to it."

A uniformed woman in her thirties with black hair in a severely tight bun walked up to us. "If you'll follow me," She said.

With a silent look of apprehension shared by the five of us who could express apprehension, we followed.

We were taken down a level to bunk rooms. Rachel and Cassie were given one, and Marco and I had our own next door. There were uniforms and boots in our sizes lying on the beds. Apparently our arrival had warranted more pre-planning that we thought. Sapheda did say that they'd been expecting us for a long time. I wondered how long they had suspected we might be human.

The uniforms were two-piece black suits trimmed with grey piping and a sleeveless white undershirt. The outer shirts were short-sleeved, snug, and zipped up to the neck. The pants had many cargo pockets. Several of the pockets had things in them, like a pocket knife, rope, and other useful things. The boots were black, above ankle, and military style with many lace loops. Marco and I put the clothes on over our morphing outfits.

Ax and Tobias were taken somewhere else with the promise that we would meet up with them again after we had all eaten. I didn't like that they were splitting us up, but this was a situation in which I had no control.

After dressing, we met the girls back in the hallway. They were also dressed in uniforms that looked as though they were tailored to their bodies. The woman then lead us to the mess hall.

The mess hall looked depressingly like a high school cafeteria. We took trays up to the line, where they were filled with normal looking food, and carried it all to an empty table. All around us were fully grown men and women who looked at us covertly. I assumed that they weren't sure who we were and were wondering why four kids were wearing their division's uniforms.

"They recruit younger and younger every year," I heard someone say as they passed me.

"I feel like we're back at school," Marco said, eating meatloaf and looking around the room. "I suddenly have this insane anxiety because I never finished my history essay."

"Stay alert, guys," I said. "I'm not sure about all this. And I don't like that we don't know where Ax and Tobias are. They could have taken them anywhere."

"They said they were taking them to the Atrium, whatever that is," Cassie said.

"I wish one of us was in morph, so we could try to talk to them," Rachel said. "We should have told one of them to keep constant contact with us."

"I'm sure if they met with trouble, they'd have called us," Cassie said reasonably. She seemed to be handling all this a little better than the rest of us; she was a lot more calm about it than we were. And she was eating voraciously. I was very pleased to see that.

"How're you doing?" I asked her. "What about your Dad, is he okay?"

"I'm fine, better than I was," She said. "I'll be even better when I know what's happened to Mom. Dad seems okay, but he's really overwhelmed. I told him everything that had happened in the last year and a half, and I mean everything. He listen, but I don't think he really understood it all. I didn't morph on the plane to show him, though. There were too many people around."

"If you've finished," The woman said. "I'll take you back to Director Cord." She had disappeared while we ate, but had rematerialized like a freaking ghost.

We followed her out of the mess and down the hall to a cage lift. She shut the gate and pushed the down button. We went down two levels and came out into a large circular room with many people stationed in front of thin computer screens on either side of a long catwalk that spanned the entire room. The keyboards were built into the desks where they sat, working.

At the end of the catwalk was the director standing with Ax, still in his Andalite body, and Tobias, in his human morph. He had also dressed in a uniform and boots. Both he and Ax seemed in deep conversation with Director Cord.

As we approached, they turned to greet us.

~Prince Jake!~ Ax exclaimed.

"Ah, good," Director Cord said as he saw us. "I trust you're fed and rested. If you'll follow me."

He turned back and walked to the end of the catwalk. There was a large bay door, which he held open, beckoning us inside.

It was another circular room, though much smaller. There were flat screens against the wall and on the table were a stack of files, several remotes, and a computer pad. He offered us a seat at the table. We all sat except for Ax.

"We just got word," Director Cord said. "Your parents have been picked up and are on the way to this facility."

"My dad, too?" Rachel asked. "My parents are divorced; he lives in Seattle."

"Yes, he's on his way. We have operatives there, as well."

I took a deep breath. "What about my brother?"

"Ah, yes, your brother," Cord said, grabbing one of the manila files and opened it. "Your brother is a controller, is he not?"

"Yes," I replied, my heart in my throat. "He has been for a long time."

"More than four years, in fact," Cord said, rifling through the papers in the folder. "Unfortunately, your brother was not at home when we collected your family. As of this moment, we are unaware of his location."

I won't lie, I was very disappointed. "Four years? Are you sure?"

"I'm afraid so. We keep extensive files on all known controllers. Let me tell you, with the number of Yeerks on Earth, that's not easy. Tom is what the Yeerks call a way-station. A stepping stone. The Yeerks, at this stage in the invasion, have little use for a high school kid, but there are literally thousands of Yeerks here, and many will take what they can get until a better option comes along." Cord pointed at the file. "The problem with tracking your brother is that the Yeerk in his head today may not be the same Yeerk that was in his head a week ago. They tend to cycle him out fairly regularly."

My hands clenched on the desk. I hated the fact that my brother was a controller, but I hated even more that they were essentially using him like a rental car.

"Will you find him?" I asked.

"We'll try," Director Cord said. "But as soon as he realizes his host's family has been take elsewhere, he'll get spooked and may go into hiding within the Yeerk community. Possibly even reassigned."

I blew out my breath in frustration. "Isn't there anything you can do?"

Cord thought about it. He reached under the desk and pulled out a phone. He put the receiver to his ear and pressed a few of the buttons with the other hand.

"Sapheda," He said. "Monitor any encoded messages and see if you can't locate the controller known as Tom Berenson. If you find him, begin surveillance. We need to see if we can redirect him to one of our facilities."

"Who is she? Sapheda, I mean," Tobias said.

"Well, that's not really my story to tell," Director Cord said as he hung the phone up. "The short version is, she and her parents crashed on Earth ten years ago after being attacked in atmosphere by the Yeerks. Her parents died on impact and she was severely injured. They crashed in India, she acquired a four year old girl from a village in that region, and purposefully stayed in that form to evade detection. A year later, she got adopted by an American family. Eventually, the Yeerks realized what she was and kidnapped her. We found her about three years ago after she had escaped from a Yeerk controlled facility and had been stealing to survive." He sat back in his chair and spread his hands in a "what have you" gesture. "There's a hell of a lot more to it than that, but if you want more details, you'll have to ask her. Like I said, not my story."

"Wow," I said. I suddenly felt a little more sympathy for her.

"Wow, indeed," Cord replied. "Her abilities have been an asset to us for the last three years and she's earned an awful lot of respect among the men and women here." He pointed at Ax. "So if you've still got a beef, you've got an entire facility you're going to have to mow down in order to get to her. Just so you're aware."

Ax looked daunted.

A buzzing from the phone took everyone's attention. Cord picked up the phone. "Yes?" He said. A second passed and he nodded, satisfied. "I got you. We'll be right out." He hung up and looked up at me. "We've triangulated a position on your brother, Jake. He's in a bug fighter coming from Washington D.C. on his way back to California. We can catch him mid-flight and redirect him here."

My heart stopped, and then sped up. Today! Tom could be free today!

We stood and left the conference room and back out into what we considered the bridge. Standing on the catwalk, surrounded by paper thin, transparent screens suspended in midair by seemingly nothing, was Sapheda.

"Now that is a computer screen," Marco said. "Where can I buy one of those?"

~It's a hologram,~ Ax said in disbelief.

"That's right. The screens are actually for our benefit," Cord was saying. "For her, they're completely superfluous. She's actually showing us what she is seeing in her head. For her, it's all signals. All she needs is a single electronic semaphore to be able to work her magic. And she keeps it all in that little brain of hers. It's quite extraordinary."

~Yes,~ Ax agreed. ~I'm sure it must seem so to you. But it isn't magic; it is a fundamental physiological difference in brain function that allows-~

"He wasn't being literal, Ax," I said in an undertone.

~Oh.~

"Tracking the bug fighter over Colorado Springs," Sapheda was saying. "We can redirect them here if we time it right."

Cord looked at me as though waiting for me to give the word. I nodded.

"Do it," Cord told her.

An operative handed her a headset, which she put on and adjusted to fit her head. "Signal out," she said. A column of desks to her right, which I guessed were the communications station, began typing busily.

"Signal out," one of them called back.

"Do we have an ident on the bug fighter?"

"Not yet. We haven't analyzed the signal."

"Can she control the bug fighter the same way she flew the jet," I asked Director Cord.

Sapheda answered me instead with laughter in her voice. "Once the fighter gets within range, I can fly it right into our hanger bay."

"We have ident on the fighter," a communications officer reported. "Bug Fighter number 7-7-6-7. Nishin class."

On the screen in front of her showed the layout and blueprint of a bug fighter in blue. She touched a segment on the underside of the ship, and it flashed red.

"Transmit Yeerk pool identification code."

"Code transmitted."

"Open a frequency," She said.

"Frequency open."

"Bug Fighter 7-7-6-7," Sapheda said, deepening her voice to sound older, although it wasn't very effective. "This is Pool Base Arto 54. We're reading a coolant leak in your forward engine. Can you confirm?"

It took a minute for the controller in the bug fighter to respond.

"Pool Base Arto 54, we can confirm coolant leak. Requesting suggested course of action."

Tom. That was Tom's voice. Tom was piloting the bug fighter.

"Fighter 7-7-6-7, turn to 270 degrees from your current position and continue to Carson National Forest. We have a repair bay there. Confirm Base Security code."

"Security code confirmed. Flight course adjusted. E.T.A. in fifteen minutes."

"Acknowledged," Sapheda said. She pulled the headset off. "He'll be within my control range in two minutes."

"Excellent," Cord replied. He turned to me. "Would you like to go down and greet our guests?"

My lungs constricted. "Yes." I looked around wildly at the others.

"We're with you, Jake," Rachel said. Tom was her cousin, her family, too. She was just as invested as me. The others were, too, because they were my friends. They nodded in agreement with Rachel.

"Let's go, man," Marco said, putting a hand on my shoulder.

We filed back out into the cage lift. Tobias morphed out of human and into hawk, not bothering to concern himself with the clothes that fell off his body. The minute and a half it took to get back to the hangar bay was the longest minute and a half in my life. Finally, we made out way out to the platform, which was empty. The jet we had brought us in had been moved to a dock at the end of the bay.

Cord pulled out a walkie-talkie and turned it on. "Sapheda, report."

Her childlike voice came through the other end. "They're within range. I've locked their controls and are guiding them in. They aren't even aware their not flying the ship anymore. E.T. A. ten minutes, but I could put them in overdrive and get them here in half the time."

"Good. Keep me posted." He changed the frequency and spoke again. "I need an extraction team to the hangar bay. We've got guests unaware they'll be visiting."

"Yes, sir," A voice said back.

The wait was horrible. The five of us standing stood in a line in front of the platform. Tobias was back on Rachel's shoulder. I turned to Cassie, but I was unable to speak. She understood me, though. She could understand things without speaking. It was one of the things I loved the most about her. She reached out and took my hand in hers and twined our fingers together.

A minute or so later, a team of ten men arrived, heavily armed, and lined up with us on the platform's connected dock.

"Two minutes," Sapheda's voice said through the walkie-talkie.

I couldn't breathe.

"One minute."

Today would be the day.

"Thirty seconds."

From high above us, I heard the bay doors opening distantly. The sound of it reverberated all the way down here. But it was too far for the surface light to penetrate.

Suddenly, the platform rose up. I watched it as it went up. It took a long time. Then it stopped and reversed directions.

"Ship inbound," Cord said into the walkie-talkie. "Meet us in holding cell four with an E.C.T. machine."

"On my way."

The bug fighter came into view then. I could see frantic movement inside the cockpit windows. The platform finished its descent and the soldiers moved into position, guns drawn.

"This is it," I whispered to myself. Cassie squeezed my hand.

The platform fell into it's hold with a loud clank. As soon as it stopped moving, the soldiers moved forward. They placed some sort of small explosive on the hatch that blew it open.

It was over in minutes. According to Director Cord, there was a dampening field throughout the entire base that prevented dracon beams from working. Without working weapons and staring down fully automatic rifles, there was no fight. The controllers gave up without incident.

They came out blindfolded and gagged, their hands bound with zip ties in front of them. There was a man, a woman, and finally, my brother. He walked out of the bug fighter with an arrogant swagger, despite the blindfold around his eyes and cloth in his mouth.

We followed them into a different part of the hangar, which had doors with bars lined up along the wall. Into one we all went, and there were steps down. Many of them.

"Ax, your going to have trouble getting down there," I said. "Why don't you go back to the Atrium and wait for us?"

Ax hesitated. ~I can stay with you, Prince Jake, if you have need of me.~

"It's alright, Ax," Cassie said. "We'll take care of him."

~I'll go with Ax,~ Tobias said, hopping off of Rachel's shoulder and onto Ax's. ~We shouldn't go anywhere alone until we've got a better idea of this place.~

I knew better. I knew he was uncomfortable when Cassie was reunited with her father. This was the same sort of thing.

"That's a good idea," I said. "We'll meet you later."

Ax and Tobias disappeared back through the door, escorted by two operatives.

Cassie still had my hand. I looked at her, and she let go. I stepped past her and walked at my brother's side, though he didn't know I was there. This, the entire reason I got into this stupid war, my brother's freedom, was mere minutes away. I wasn't going to leave him until it was over.

We made our way down the steps and onto a walkway in the dimly lit holding wing. We turned and stopped at a heavy steel door and waited. It was just me, Tom, Cassie, Marco, Rachel, Director Cord, and the two soldiers holding Tom in check. The others, soldiers and controllers, walked on.

Director Cord pressed his hand onto a pad on the wall, and the door slid open sideways, like on Star Trek. Inside was a large grey room, empty but for a metal chair with straps on the arms and legs, which were welded to the floor, a table upon which a large black briefcase lay, and Sapheda, standing between the chair and the table.

As we entered, she opened the briefcase and began to turn dials and flick switches. The electric whine resounded.

They placed Tom into the chair and strapped him to it. He didn't struggle, but I could sense a coiled rage radiating from him. Director Cord stepped up to him.

"My name is Roland Cord. I'm not much concerned with what your name is. What concerns me is that you are controlling an unwilling host. I'm giving you the option to release him of your own volition. Do so, and we will spare your life. Do not, and we will extract you and execute you. I'm going to remove your gag, and you can reply."

The gag came off, and the Yeerk spewed obscenities from Tom's mouth. The gag went back on.

"Go ahead," Cord said to Sapheda, but she shook her head. She walked up to me, and had to look up. I was much taller than her.

"If you have anything to say, now would be the time."

I swallowed and nodded. She took a step away and walked back to the table, readying the machine.

I stepped forward and removed the blindfold from his face. He looked at me and his eyes widened in shock. I didn't know what I wanted to say, but I wanted to say something. I wanted to shout at the Yeerk in his head. I wanted to laugh at it and tell it that it was about to lose. I wanted to be angry. I wanted to be vengeful. I wanted it to feel fear. I wanted it to be afraid of me.

But instead, I reached down and grasped his hand. He didn't grasp mine back. The Yeerk was disgusted. I could see it in Tom's eyes. But I held on.

"Tom," I said. "Listen, I know. I've known for over a year. I've been trying to help you, but there was only so much that I could do without endangering other people. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't help you before now. But I promise you, it's over. We're going to get that thing out of your head. You're never going to be a controller again. Ever. Not as long as I live. I swear that to you."

I looked up at Sapheda, who was waiting for my word.

"Okay," I said.

"You need to step away," She said. "Or you risk electrocution."

Reluctantly, I took my hand away from Tom's. He looked at me with such hatred, such venom. But it wasn't him. It was the Yeerk. The Yeerk who was about to die.

"Don't worry, Tom," I said. "I'll be here when it's over. I'll be here."

A zap of electricity, and his eyes, which held such hate, rolled back into his head they way Cassie's Dad had. The quickly unstrapped him and laid him carefully out on the floor, not holding him down, but carefully monitored him so that he didn't hurt himself with his violent thrashing. I fell down next to him and took his hand again, my heart beating hard.

"Shouldn't we hold him down?" I asked, panicked.

Sapheda looked at me with sympathy, but shook her head. "You should never hold down someone who's having a seizure. You could injure them."

I looked back down at him, jerking uncontrollably. I watched his ear. I waited and waited. Finally, after so long a time, it began to wiggle out. I barely stopped myself from clawing at the side of his head to get it out. And then, there is was, on the ground near Tom's head, slimy and revolting. I jump to my feet and picked up my booted foot to put an end to that disgusting thing.

But I felt myself pulled back by Cord. "No, Jake."

"You said that you were going to execute it. I'm doing it for you," I said, fighting against his grip.

"Yes, I did say that, Jake. But who has more right to it? You or Tom?" He asked me simply.

That stopped me cold. "You're right," I said. Cord released me.

Tom was still seizing, but it was damping out. I saw Sapheda inject him with something in his thigh. Soon, but far too long, Tom lay still.

"Is he alright?" I asked.

"He will be," Sapheda said. "Seizures take a toll on the brain and muscles. It's a dangerous method of extraction, but it's quicker that waiting the three days, more reliable than drugs, and has better results."

I knelt next to Tom, holding his hand and talking to him. I don't even remember what I said. I just kept talking until he opened his eyes. At first he didn't look at anything, but then he met my gaze. The moment we locked eyes, he began to cry. He tried to lift his arms to cover his face, but he couldn't quite do it. Four years was a long time to have had no control over your own body, and he had also had a shock to the brain.

"It's okay, Tom," I said, tears streaming down my face. "It's alright. It's over. It's over just like I promised. I told you I'd be here, didn't I? It's over."

"Jake..." He said faintly through his tears. "Help me..."

He was trying to sit up. I helped him. And he hugged me. He hugged me hard and tight and cried into my shoulder. I thought I heard him say thank you more than once, but his voice was muffled against my shoulder so it was hard to tell. I soaked his shirt in my own tears.

After a few minutes, I eased him to his feet. He looked down and saw the Yeerk, and his face morphed into the same hatred that the Yeerk had displayed at me.

"It's all yours, Tom," I said to him, holding him upright.

He looked at me with understanding. He raised his leg as high as he could manage, and brought it down hard. When he pulled his foot away, all that was left was a greasy spot on the floor.

He hugged me again. But this time, he was laughing. Laughing and crying both. I think I was, too.

"How did you get here?" He asked, pulling away but still needing me to hold him up. "How didn't you know about the Yeerk? How do you know any of this?" He finally registered that the others were there, and he fell upon Rachel, hugging her too. "How are you guys here? What's going on? Where are we? Where's Mom and Dad."

I clapped him on the shoulder, smiling. I felt as though five hundred pounds of the thousand I carried on my shoulders lifted away. "I'll explain it to you. I'll tell you anything you want to know."

As I said this, the walkie-talkie on Cord's hip went off.

"Sir," said a voice. "The childrens' parents have arrived."


	8. Chapter Seven: Ax

The "atrium" was a strange name for this place. It was more like part garden, part forest. All underground. The front part was all flowers and grass going on for many, many yards on an incline with the appearance of some sort of hill, and at the far end were trees. Lots of trees. Of many different species. The ceiling of the "room" was at least a thousand feet high to give the trees room to grow and painted blue and reflective like the Earth sky. Above the forest were many lights. I assumed they were ultra-violet lamps that kept the flowers and trees alive.

I had gone running to eat when I first came to this place, and saw that many of the trees had strips of bark missing. I realized that this must be where the free Hork-Bajir operatives lived. It made sense; Hork-Bajir were created to live outside. I imagine living in a building of any sort would make them uneasy, but it wouldn't be prudent to allow them to go up to the surface to eat and sleep. They'd be seen or captured.

I tried to run to the end of the forest, but it went on for a long time and I found myself tiring out before that happened. I found at least two ponds of significant size, and drank thirstily. I was also startled to learn that there were animals here; birds and rodents and insects. They scuttled past me as I ran.

A sustained underground ecosystem. A marvel. Even Andalite dome ships could not achieve the level of meticulousness required to maintain this many species of plant and animal in a place where such species are unnatural.

The door which lead into this place was made of glass, as was the thirty-foot wide front wall. The side walls branched outward and continued on out of sight in a sort of trapezoidal rectangle. People walking quickly past the window-wall would slow down to look inside. It is not hard to understand why. The empty greyness of the rest of the compound made this place a soothing change in scenery. I enjoyed the garden section the most. It was a maze of color and fragrance. The flowers and bushes were all well cared for and blooming out of season. The temperature in this place must be regulated so that the flowers bloomed often.

Tobias was out among the trees, looking for a good roosting tree for the night. I walked among the garden for a while, but I admit, I found myself bored before long. So, in an effort to amuse myself, I followed the line of the wall along it's edge to find where it met the back wall, but somewhere halfway, I came upon another door in a clearing. This one was more ornate and was made of wood. Next to it was a metal table under a pavilion, all painted white, covered in vines and climbing flowers. The clearing was a circle about fifty square feet in diameter with grass a delicious-looking deep, dark green. Flowers of various color and size spilled out everywhere.

Unlike the rest of the wall, which was the same grey as the rest of the compound, the wall around the door was painted with murals of sky and tress and water and creatures. But they were not the plants and animals of Earth. I recognized this landscape as that of my own home.

Seeing it, a sharp shard of homesickness pierced my hearts. I reached out and placed my hand on a depiction of the Haor-Niar tree. Would I ever see a real one again?

"Do you like them?"

I jumped so badly that I actually reared up. I swung my stalk eyes behind me and saw that girl, Sapheda.

~Like what?~ I asked, embarrassed.

She smiled."The paintings," She said, motioning to them. "I made them. One of my sisters was painter. She taught me."

I was confused. ~Andalites do not have the digital dexterity to paint with this sort of complexity.~

"Oh, no, I meant one of my human sisters. I had quite a few of them." She had a sad, faraway look. Or, at least. I think she did. Human expressions were still difficult to read. "I'm sorry I startled you," She said, smiling again. "It's not easy to sneak up on an Andalite. But I assume you were preoccupied."

She looked at the murals, sad again. I watched her put her hand on the same tree that I had touched.

~Do you remember it?~ I asked her.

"Oh, yes," She replied softly. "I was a small child when my parents and I left the homeworld, but I can still remember it. The ponds, the rivers. The wide, wide world. Color and light. The voices of the trees. The wind in the tall grass. It's all still familiar to me. I'm sure one day, when I'm older, I'll forget it, but I'll hold on as long as my mind stays young."

I felt a strange sympathy. Well, maybe not so strange. I had been stranded on this world a far shorter time than she, and I felt all the same things. But where I could go back home, I was suddenly aware that she could not. I felt a little shame at how I had behaved toward her earlier.

~I feel that I must apologize for how I acted today,~ I said. ~I was ill-mannered and hostile and it was dishonorable.~

She waved her hand. "It's alright. I understand. You were in an unfamiliar situation in which you could be in danger and thought I had sold you out. Who wouldn't be edgy?"

I had so many questions. I didn't know what I could ask without being offensive. I didn't want to alienate her more than I already had.

~Why did you and your parents come to Earth at all? It's months away from the homeworld. Most people aren't allowed to come this far, especially civilians.~

She laughed. "Well, my father wasn't most people. He pretty much did whatever he liked, and others let him."

"Ax!" I heard from the trees. Prince Jake was calling me.

~Over here, Prince Jake,~ I called to him.

~That doesn't help, Ax,~ I heard Tobias say. I looked up and saw him flying above me, his wings working. ~He can't get a direction from a thought-speak. About twenty yards to your left, guys.~

Sapheda laughed again. She laughed so often. "He's over here."

They all came out of the treeline in those matching artificial skins provided by the person they called the Director. Walking with them was Prince Jake's brother, Tom. There was an obvious difference in him. He had his hand on Jake's shoulder and was walking slowly. Unsurprising, given how long he had been a controller. It would be a while before his full range of mobility was returned to him. As they approached me, Tom stuck out one of his hands in my direction.

Ah! I know this. This is one of the most common human rituals I have observed, called "shaking hands." It's exactly what it sounds like. It is meant to signify anything from a simple greeting of fellow human beings to a profound understanding between two people. I believed that the gesture Tom offered was meant to convey both of those concepts.

"It's good to finally meet you," He said to me. "That is, without us trying to kill each other."

~I would never have killed you,~ I replied gravely. ~Prince Jake had forbidden it. I would only have seriously injured you.~

He laughed, as though I said something funny. Perhaps he thought I had made a joke. I did not correct this misunderstanding.

He looked past me at Sapheda. Stepping toward her, he also shook her hand.

"I want to thank you," He said. "I can't tell you what it means to me to be free after all these years. And it's because of you."

"Actually it's because of your brother. But you're welcome, all the same. I'm glad I could help you."

"How did you know?" Tom asked her curiously. "That electricity could get them out?"

"Oh, it's not electricity that does it. It's the seizure. The spontaneous firing of neurons over and over during a seizure forces them to evacuate."

"How did Cord figure that out?" Rachel said.

"He didn't. I did," She replied.

"How?" Cassie asked.

She shrugged her shoulders and sighed. "That's quite a long story," She said.

"Well, we're not going anywhere," Marco said darkly. "They've taken our parents to the medical ward and won't let us see them."

Sapheda nodded knowingly. "It's protocol. People who could be controllers are separated and analyzed. At least two hours of detention is common."

"They're not going to be shocked, are they?" Marco asked, alarmed.

"No," Sapheda replied. "That's dangerous. We would never shock someone unless we were sure that they were being controlled. Even then, we have to weigh the options. After a basic physical examination, they will be given several kinds of brain scan. That's how the Yeerks were first encountered; a soldier lost consciousness after being struck in the head on duty and they took him for an MRI in a base not controlled by the Yeerks. After that, it's all history." She motioned to the table. "Please, sit. The walk will have tired him out." She indicated Tom, who looked paler than normal.

"Yes, that would be good," he replied with a sigh of relief.

They all sat around the table, besides Tobias, who landed on the back of an unoccupied chair. I stepped toward it and stood at Prince Jake's elbow. Sitting is such a strange human behavior, but sitting in the vicinity of a round table is even more odd. I have observed humans doing this quite often. It makes sense when they eat, because the table must hold all the delicious foodstuffs, but any other time it seems superfluous. But some things humans do simply do not have valid reasoning behind it and it is not worth the headache of trying to understand, I have found.

"So, sorry about being suspicious of you and all," Rachel said to Sapheda.

"Doth mine ears deceive me? Is Rachel actually apologizing? _Rachel?_" Marco said. Rachel stuck her tongue out at him. Another confusing human interaction. Like I said, there are just some things beyond the reach of logic.

"It's alright. I've told Aximilli that I more than understand. When I was first brought here, I didn't trust anyone either. It took a much longer span of time for me to be comfortable here."

"Yeah, about that," Prince Jake said. "You said your story was a long one. I'm sure we'd all really like to hear it."

~Yeah. I'm the only human _nothlit,~ _Tobias said, perhaps untruthfully. No one mentioned David. "You must be the only Andalite one.~

"That may not be true," Sapheda said pensively. "Many Andalites never return from the war. They may have been killed, but becoming trapped is another possibility. They'd likely never go back home." She sighed. "I suppose my story could be an interesting one, though I've never thought so. It's not a happy one, certainly. Are you sure you'd like to hear it?"

For a moment, we were all silent, looking at each other.

"I would."

That was Tom. He was looking at Sapheda with a interested expression. Jake may not have told him that she had been an Andalite. In fact, that may have been sensitive information that perhaps we would not have been told had I not realized it myself.

She nodded. "All right." She took a deep long breath through her nostrils and exhaled through her mouth noisily. "Well, before you all found us, Aximilli had asked why my family and I came to Earth in the first place. That seems a good place to start." She paused to sit forward and look down at her hands.

"My original Andalite name is Sarada-Rolleg-Neris. Daughter and only child of Toroth-Rolleg-Soofrit and Loreb-Serthin-Colluri. My father was a decorated War-Prince who was medically discharged after more than sixty years of military service. My mother was a horticulturalist. Loved flowers and all things that grow. Lively. Spirited. It's why my father loved her. She made him feel young. We came to Earth to celebrate my parents anniversary. They'd been married five years."

~Only five years, at his age?~ I said in surprise. ~How unusual.~

"Why is that surprising?" Cassie asked.

"Because Andalites are expected to have a mate early, "Sapheda said. "You see, all Andalite males go through an educational process that largely involves the military. After the rudimentary educational levels are achieved, they are obligated to serve five years as an _aristh_, or a cadet. After those years have ended, they are to return to their civilian education for five years, learning about different professions. Biology, metallurgy, various technologies, cultivation, computer sciences, physics, alien cultures, all sorts of different things. It's an Andalite's job to know a little something about everything. While they conduct this civil study, they must decide whether they will return to the service of the homeworld, or find another profession. Almost all Andalite males choose the military, though. Once they re-enter the service, they are considered to be a _soutic-aristh_, or a senior cadet. During the five years between leaving the military and returning to it, Andalite males are expected to marry. It is considered strange for a male to return to service without acquiring a wife and siring a child. Extenuating circumstances notwithstanding. "

"Ah-ha," Marco said with a smirk. "So, Ax, does that mean it's time for you to get a lady-friend and set up house? I think I know a couple of girls who wouldn't mind a guy like you, even if you are blue and have two eyes on the top of your head."

If an Andalite could blush, I believe I would have. But we do not. Luckily for me.

~No,~ I said as evenly as I could. ~Technically, I am only in my second year of military service. I have several years before I need to consider... that.~

Sapheda smiled widely. "Anyway, my father met my mother after he retired. She was significantly younger than he was. But was smitten. What is it humans say? Fell like a ton of bricks?"

Everyone around the table nodded sagely. I was, again, baffled. She clearly understood human parlance better than I did. With ten years of study, it was no wonder.

"Mother loved exotic plants. She had a wide collection of alien flowers. She prized them. Got awards for them, even. But, she didn't have any from Earth. My father promised her that for their five year anniversary, that he would bring her here to take cuttings."

"Wait, your parents risked getting caught by Yeerks so your mom could come to Earth and pick flowers?" Rachel said, her face scrunching up with confusion.

"No one in the galaxy knew that the Yeerks were invading Earth, except for the Yeerks. Even the Andalites had no idea. Mostly because, at the time, Andalites didn't come within a lightyear of Earth unless absolutely necessary."

"Why not?" Cassie asked.

Sapheda winced. "Well, don't take this the wrong way, but Andalites considered the people of Earth to be underdeveloped. Primitive."

"Yeah, we've heard all about that, haven't we, guys?" Marco said, glancing in my direction.

"As a general rule, we aren't supposed to visit worlds that have been deemed not ready for acknowledgment by the council," Sapheda sighed. "But, my father would do to anything make my mother happy. So we came."

We expected her to continue, but she stopped. She looked down and held her small fingers to her lips.

"What happened?" Tom asked quietly.

"I... I don't remember it well," She said distantly. "I remember the ship swaying, and hitting my head. My father shouting, my mother wrapping her whole body around mine. I lost consciousness. When I woke up, the ship was down. Mother was dead. Her shielding my body saved my life, but had killed her. Father was still alive, but he was losing blood rapidly. He knew right away who had shot us down; he'd fought against them for most of his career. He had an Escafil device and gave me morphing power. He told me to find a member of the dominant species on Earth and morph into one. And stay that way. He knew that even if some if my own people tried to find me, they'd likely never make it here in time to save me. He knew my only chance of survival was to change. Adapt. Even if it meant I could never go home. But it had to be done. So I did it.

"My father told me to get away from the ship. I didn't want to leave him, but he was my father, and I had to obey. He told me to run, so I ran." As she spoke, her voice became quieter and quieter. "Once I was far enough, my father used his dying breath to detonate the ship. I heard the explosion and my hearts stopped. But I understood, even so small. The Yeerks couldn't get their hands on Andalite technology, most especially the Escafil device. If they got that, the war would be over, and everyone would lose. So my father destroyed everything. He was loyal to the homeworld to the bitter end.

"We had landed in a forest in India. When I came out of the forest, I stumbled upon a small farm. The first human I ever encountered was the smallest daughter of the farmer. She seemed a close enough approximation to my own age. So, while her back was turned, I acquired her. Once she came out of the acquiring trance, she turned and saw me."

~Was she afraid of you?~ I asked her. ~I find that humans who observe me accidentally tend to be frightened.~

"Actually, no," Sapheda reminisced pleasantly. "In fact, I think she was delighted to see me. The farmer and his family were Hindus. The religion is full of strange amalgamations of animals. She didn't so much fear me as assumed I was some sort of god's avatar." Sapheda laughed. "She ran back to her hut, shouting 'Sapheda ghora! Sapheda ghora!'" She looked around at our identical mystified expressions. "'Sapheda ghora' means 'white horse' in Hindi. By the time the girl's family came out to see what she was shouting about, I had completed my morph."

"You know... Not to be insensitive or anything," Cassie said. "But Asian Indians typically have dark skin and hair coloring, similar to me. But besides your eyes, you're coloring is strange."

"Ah," Sapheda said. "Yes. I have a rare genetic abnormality that, on our planet, is called '_ruyoi viat_, or 'colorlessness.' On Earth, it's referred to as albinism. Because it's genetic, its encoded into my DNA and affects any morph I might take."

~Wouldn't a morph be unaffected by that?~ Tobias asked.

~No,~ I replied. ~If one were to take samples of the DNA of an individual in morph and analyzed it, it would show both the DNA of the animal and the original morpher, meaning it the morpher's DNA would still be the dominant DNA. The DNA of the animal is simply super-imposed over that of the morpher. Any DNA abnormality in the morpher would also manifest in the morph. Human DNA technology is not sophisticated enough to detect this, but Andalites have been the masters of our own genetic code for centuries. It's how we developed the Escafil device, by studying the effects of inserting alien DNA into our own temporarily.~ I swiveled my stalk eyes to look at Sapheda, curious. ~Because of this, we have been able to correct such... anomalies in utero for a long time now. Although this sort of anomaly is typically benign and only affects appearance, it is still unusual for a child to be born with such abnormalities intact.~

I thought perhaps Sapheda would be offended, but instead she nodded and grinned. "My parents were unusual people." She waved a hand dismissively. "As far as the benign nature of the condition, that's both true and untrue. The radiation from the Andalite suns was not strong enough to affect me, but the Earth sun is different. It's radiation is much stronger and damaging, which is why I wear long sleeves and gloves all the time. I also use strong sunscreen on my face and neck to keep from burning. I've gotten heat stroke on several occasions when I wasn't paying attention. Melanin is what protects humans and other earth creatures from the massive radiation the Earth sun produces. Without it, the human body is much more vulnerable to radiation and other environmental dangers."

Sapheda pointed at me. "But what Aximilli says about the DNA super-imposition is correct. Were I to morph a lion, the lion would be colorless. If I morphed a bird of any description, the bird I morphed would be colorless. And so on and so on."

"Huh," Cassie said thoughtfully. "That's really interesting."

"So, go back to the story. What happened after the farmer found you?" Rachel asked.

"Once they assured themselves that I was not, if fact, some sort of strange mythical creature, they took me to the nearest local authority. Which, in a village that small, was something equivalent to a mayor, who shared an office with the only thing resembling a physician. They determined that I was perfectly healthy and asked me all sorts of questions, but because I wasn't in the military, I didn't have a translator chip installed in my cerebral cortex like Aximilli does, and I couldn't understand a thing they said. I kept repeating the first words I had heard as a human; 'Sapheda ghora.' Eventually, they assumed that was my name. They sent me to an orphanage in a bigger town, and then I was transferred to a mental institution in Haveri because my behavior was so odd.

"That was terrible," She said with a shadow in her eye. "Forgive me for saying so, but human doctors are barbarians. Needles, scalpels, chemicals, electroshock. Ugh, the physicians of my homeworld would be outraged," She shivered. "Anyway, I eventually figured out that they wanted me to behave a certain way before they'd be satisfied and leave me alone. I also realized that my strange behavior might draw the attention of anyone who could be looking for me. So I would have to figure out how to act passingly human. Once I did that, they placed me in an out-of-state hospital in Mumbai, and from there into a new orphanage in the same city. I didn't like it there, either."

~Why not?~ Tobias asked.

"Children can be cruel to someone who is different."

~Ah, yes,~ Tobias said dryly. ~I know exactly what you're talking about. Trust me, ~

"My behavior, though modulated to please the adults, was still considered strange, and they often poked fun at me because of it. They used to try and get me to eat things they knew were dangerous for me. Eventually I had to be separated from the other children for my own safety."

~That's despicable,~ Tobias said blackly. I agreed. Who knew human children could do such awful things?

"One of the nurses in the hospital helped people out of the country adopt children from India. She started sending my profile out to prospective parents. Which is how I met the Blackwoods."

"Your human family?" Cassie asked.

"Yes. They came to India a few times to meet and talk to me, and then they signed all the papers and took me home. The Blackwoods learned early in their marriage that they couldn't have children, so they started adoption proceedings. But they didn't want infants, like most people who foster. Once they looked into the foster care system in America, they were astounded at how bad and ineffectively run it is. So many children fall through the cracks because they're not 'perfect' or have some kind of problem that potential parents just don't want to deal with. So the Blackwoods decided to take older children of all races, the ones who needed their help. As a result, I had twenty two brothers and sisters."

"Wow," Rachel said. "I thought having two little sisters was hard enough."

"Well, I didn't have them all at once. Most of them had been adopted and grown up and left the house long before the Blackwoods took me in. At the time there was only one older boy and one older girl. Max, who was fourteen, and Ellie, who was eleven. It was hard for all of us to adjust for a while, but eventually we became comfortable with each other. Both my new parents and my new siblings went out of their way to make me feel welcome and overlook my oddities, such as eating drywall and creeping outside in the middle of the night to sleep in the yard."

"You ate weird things, too?" Prince Jake said. "When Ax first became human, we had to stop him from eating all sorts of things."

"Yeah," Marco agreed. "It took a while to convince him that engine oil and paper bags were not a necessary part of a balanced breakfast."

Sapheda laughed. "Yes, I imagine so."

~What sorts of things did you eat?~ I asked her. It was so refreshing to have someone to compare experiences with. ~Many things on this planet are not edible, no matter how much they might look as though they are.~

"I learned that the hard way," Sapheda said. "Nearly poisoned myself a couple of times. People thought I was suicidal, but in reality, it just looked like it tasted good."

There was a hearty laugh at that one and they all looked at me, as though I had done something similar. Although, I did not laugh. If I ate something that poisoned me, I could simply morph out and be fine. But she was in real danger of killing herself accidentally. How fragile humans were. My concerns rose.

~You should be more careful,~ I said sternly. ~Earth is a deceptively dangerous place.~

"Well, I learned eventually what was good and what wasn't. Trial and error, really. The strangest things I've ever eaten would probably have to be chalk and earthworms."

Most of them made a face that I think was disgust.

"_Earthworms? _Ugh, that revolting," Rachel said emphatically.

"They're not that bad, actually. Once you get past the wiggling."

"Okay, now I'm getting the creeps," Marco said.

"What about real food?" Tom asked. "Visser Three went crazy over steak and potatoes. And veal, he loved veal."

Cassie looked queasy. "He would. Eating helpless baby animals. That guy's just sick."

"I think my favorite human food would be tied between chocolate cake and rainbow sherbet. I would eat that forever. Even with the brain freeze," Sapheda replied.

~I enjoy cinnamon buns very much,~ I offered.

~Cinnamon buns are definitely good," Sapheda agreed.

~I have made myself sick on numerous occasions,~ I said. I think males of the human species find this behavior an accomplishment. Indeed, Prince Jake and Marco were nodding their heads and smirking. Cassie and Rachel shook theirs, but they smiled.

Sapheda shared their look, but said in reply, "Yeah, I've done that, too."

"So, what happened to your family?" Prince Jake asked. "Where are they? I don't recall seeing them with you around here."

Sapheda stopped laughing. She stopped smiling. All expression drained out of her face and she refused to look at anyone. Several seconds passed before she answered. Forty seven earth seconds, in fact.

"They're dead."

Silence followed these words. Not, _they left me when they found out what I was_, or _they're controllers now and I'm trying to help them_, or _I left to protect them_. Just, they're dead.

"All of them?" Prince Jake asked.

"Yes," She replied flatly, without comment.

"How? What happened?"

"It's because of me. I made so many mistakes without even realizing it. The most egregious of which was to tell Ellie who and what I really was. She didn't believe me at the time. They became controllers for another reason, which was also my fault. But once they infested her and they learned what I had told her, it was only a matter of time."

"Why did they get infested?" Marco asked.

"I tried as hard as I could to seem human," Sapheda said apologetically. "But it's hard to do that when you don't know anything about humans. When I saw my older brother's advanced calculus homework on the table before I had even enrolled in kindergarten, I thought it was a puzzle and completed it. A day later they were talking about having me take tests and getting me certified. That's how they found me. Found us."

"I don't understand," Cassie said.

"When the Yeerks first came to Earth, they targeted people who could benefit them the most," Tom said. "Doctors, politicians, people of influence, obviously. But they also targeted children who were certified geniuses. Because it was an easy way to introduce advanced technology without anyone questioning it. Child prodigies do remarkable things all the time, and it's not considered strange. It's even expected. They could use these children to create and spread so-called "inventions" to the human population that would make them easier to control. Almost all the ones who have been certified genius in the last ten years are now controllers."

"Exactly," Sapheda replied with sadness. "And they start with the families of the child. They infest them first. So, after I was certified officially, my older brother and I went to college together. I was nine and he was eighteen. He was so annoyed until Mom and Dad told him that they were renting an apartment for us to stay in so he didn't have to live in a dorm. They even signed temporary custody of me over to Max so that I could go out of state, provided he could prove he was capable of being responsible for me, which he did. That first semester was so much fun." Sapheda smiled a little with fondness.

"We went home for a family holiday. Everything looked normal. But I could see it in their eyes. Max didn't. To him, everything was fine. But I could see it. I begged him to drive us back to the college. I tried to tell him that something was wrong, but he didn't believe me. They drugged my food and infested him while I was unconscious. And then they got me. They put me in a steamer trunk and loaded me into the back of a van. Then they torched the house and erased their entire lives. They had what they wanted. Even if I couldn't morph, there was still a wealth of information that could be gleaned from my memory. They were saving me. Visser One wanted to do the honor."

Marco shifted in his seat uncomfortably. His very own mother was the host for Visser One.

Sapheda saw this. "Oh, she didn't have your mother then, Marco. It's all right. This was five years ago, before your mother was ever infested."

Marco nodded gratefully, inhaling and exhaling a hard breath.

"She showed up in the body of a well-dressed man, actually. She had been trying to out-do Visser Three for years. He only has his position because he managed to be the only Yeerk to invade the body of an Andalite, and all through sheer, brazen dumb luck. She finally had something he didn't. They tried to infest me, but to their surprise, it didn't work. When the Yeerk entered my skull and tried to attach itself to my brain, I went into seizures. Every single time. They tried different things, different methods of getting me to comply." Her face was dark with memory. I wasn't surprised. Yeerks will employ any torture, any terrible act, to get what they want. "But nothing worked. Every time they tried to stick a slug in my ear, my body reacted violently. It was a completely involuntary reaction. Turns out the body I morphed is allergic to anesthetics, which is how the Yeerk gets in; it excretes a local anesthetic to numb the ear for insertion. Otherwise the process is excruciatingly painful for the host."

"Why would they care about hurting their hosts?" Rachel asked scornfully.

~They don't, for the most part,~ I replied. ~Except that they can remember the pain, which is almost as uncomfortable to the Yeerk as the pain of it was to the host. They avoid as much unpleasantness to themselves personally as they can.~

"Typical self-serving behavior," Tom said neutrally. Prince Jake looked at him in concern, but said nothing.

"When they couldn't get their way, they assumed I was doing it on purpose, and they decided to torture me in order to make me comply. But they didn't use physical pain. They wanted me to be shattered; broken. And they had been observing humans for five years by now, and knew that humans could withstand quite a lot. But loss. Loss was one thing that could obliterate a human's will. So, one day, I was marched into a room, and my human mother was kneeling on the ground with a gun to her head."

"Oh, god, no," Cassie said. He hand went to her mouth. I have observed this when humans feel ill. I shared this feeling.

"She was free, but bound and gagged. They took the gag off and told her to tell me to give in. But that's not what she said. She told me to fight. She told me to save myself and fight as hard as I could. And then she was shot."

Cassie began to cry. The others had serious looks on their faces; angry, sick, vengeful. Except Tom. His face mirrored Sapheda's sorrowful expression. The face of mourning.

"One by one, they brought every member of my family into the room. One by one, they told them to tell me to give in. One by one, they yelled at their captors and they all told me the same thing: fight. And they were all killed. Right there in front of me.

"Visser One knelt next to me and put a hand on my shoulder, as though he were comforting me. He told me that to put an end to all this, all I had to do was give in. That it would be easy. I put my arms around his shoulders and cried. He didn't know what to do, but his human brain told him to hug me tight, in the semblance of reassurance. When he did, I used my sharp human teeth to rip out the side of his neck, where the artery was. He bled to death."

Again, we were shocked. None of us could find one word to say.

"But, Visser One didn't die. The man I killed was an innocent human being who had done nothing wrong. I killed him because he had the misfortune of being the body in which Visser One resided. The guilt of that still lives with me. I decided that I'd never hurt anyone ever again, no matter what that meant. But I wasn't going to let my second family's dying message go. I'd fight in any way I could manage."

The silence was horrible. Tom reached across and extended his hand to Sapheda, who took it and held it for a moment. Cassie, who was still crying, put her arm around Sapheda's shoulder, and Prince Jake held Cassie's other hand.

"What did they do?"

"They drugged me with Succinylcholine. It's a muscular paralytic. I was aware of everything that happened around me. I could see, hear, and feel. But I couldn't react. It was exactly like being infested without the infestation. Visser One, in a new body, decided that despite my rebelliousness, I was too valuable a prisoner to kill and I would be put away until they could find a better use for me. It was then that I began to develop my abilities. While my body steadily weakened and my muscles atrophied from disuse, my mind sharpened. I began to control computers and other electronics around me. It was different than Andalite computers; they're designed to interact directly with an Andalite's mind. But at it's base, it's all signals. Once I got used to it, I could control any device that put out any sort of electronic signal. The controllers didn't notice it; they assumed the devices were malfunctioning. But, we all take something from our parents. Sometimes it's appearance, sometimes it's personality. I took from my mother the love of growing things." She waved her hand around at the plants and trees. "From my father I took his amazing abilities with computers."

"You're dad could do this sort of stuff, too?" Marco asked.

"Yes," Sapheda replied. "But he was gifted. Not all Andalites are capable of such things."

"What do you mean?"

"You see, as I said, Andalite pilots communicated with computers directly. However, almost all humans are physically capable of becoming pilots, but not all of them have the mentality or the skill required to pass the test. It's the same for Andalites. Males with the aptitude are selected to man dome ships, and the ones that do not have aptitude are selected for other duties."

"So," Marco asked. It would be Marco. "How'd you do on your test, Ax? Pass or fail."

"I have not been tested yet. I had not completed that part of my training when I crashed here," I sniffed haughtily.

He laughed, or rather, cackled.

"But human minds can't communicate with computers," Cassie said.

"Indeed not," Sapheda said. "But, when you morph, you still retain your own thoughts, and you gain the ability to speak mind-to-mind, as Andalites do. Since no other Andalite_ nothlit_ has ever been found or studied, we are as yet unaware how much of their Andalite mental capabilities are left intact."

~That's a good point,~ Tobias said.

"Eventually, I had enough control to be able to escape. It took months of planning and preparation, but when I did, I freed as many controllers and caused as much damage to the facility as possible. But, I never hurt anyone. I'm very proud of that."

"You should be," Cassie replied.

"I agree," Tom seconded.

A knock at the wooden door behind us took our attention.

"Sorry, this is my private entrance. They must be looking for me," Sapheda said, standing. She walked to the door and opened it, consulting briefly with the person on the other side. After a moment, the other person left, and she returned to us.

"Actually," she said. "They were looking for you. Your parents have completed the medical examinations, though some rather unwillingly, and are in the main conference room. Director Cord is ready for you to greet them."


	9. Chapter Eight: Rachel

We left Ax and Tobias in the Atrium with Sapheda and the promise to keep them updated, following an operative back up to the bridge. My heart fluttered in my chest like a bird. The walk was quiet and full of tension. Tom walked at Jake's side. Every once in a while Tom reached out and grasped Jake's arm as if to steady himself. Jake didn't react except to slow slightly until Tom regained his compusure. I was worried about Tom.

I was more worried about Jake. What now? The whole reason Jake had gotten into this mess was for his brother. But Tom was free now. What did that mean for Jake? Would he quit? And if he did, what about the rest of us? Who would lead us? Not me. Not Cassie, not Tobias, not Ax. Not Marco. For the love of all that's holy, not Marco.

If Jake quit, so would Cassie. All the loss she had suffered wouldn't make her adamant to fight, it would make her want to retreat even more. I mean, I love her and she's my best friend, but she's not a fighter. She never had been. This war had sucked a lot of life out of her and everyone could see it. Marco would keep going until he got his mom back, but how long would that take now? Not long, I'd wager. After that, he'd be out. There wouldn't be a reason for him to keep fighting. He'd always said that, right from the very beginning.

Tobias would still fight, and so would Ax, but they both had their own reasons for doing so. What would I do? I wanted to keep fighting, but what was my reasoning? I hadn't lost anyone, not really; not like the others. And with the team broken up, how could I? I'd never give Tobias orders, and Ax wouldn't listen to me if I did. He's always been Jake's man. Andalite. Whatever.

Everything was changing, and I didn't like it. I had always assumed I could handle anything that came at me, but I felt as if the world I knew was falling away from my feet and there was no stopping it.

_Suck it up_, I told myself. This wasn't the moment to freak out. After I explained all this to my parents, _that _was the time to freak out. I cannot tell you how much I wanted this day to end already.

We entered the bridge and crossed the catwalk. The room was bustling with activity, but it was deceptively quiet. Director Cord was waiting at the door to the conference room.

"Your parents are understandably upset at having been pulled out of their homes, detained, and brought here. Not to mention being subjected to a full medical examination," Cord said. "We've gotten them mostly calmed down, but we haven't told them anything. Cassie, your father is in there with them, and we've asked him to stay quiet until the five of you were located and brought down. I figure this is your job, not mine." He crossed his arms over his well-tailored suit. "What are you going to say?" He was talking to Jake.

"I don't know, to be honest. I wasn't sure we'd ever see this day," He said.

"Well, it's here. Now you've got to man up and tell the truth," Cord replied. "Don't get me wrong, you've done as good a job as you could with what you had, but the time for secrecy and hiding is over. You tell your parents what's really going on, then we'll offer you and your parents a choice. I want you all to consider it very carefully and talk it over with your family. Don't rush the decision."

"What decision?" I asked.

"In time," Cord said. "Right now, there's a slew of freaked out families in my conference room and I've got an appointment with my logistics division in two hours. Any help to facilitate that would be appreciated."

It was hard to tell if he was joking or not, but my sisters must be scared out of their minds and I wasn't going to make them wait anymore. I walked past the others and into the door.

The scene was as strange as I imagined. My parents were arguing and my sisters were upset. Jake's dad was trying to defuse the situation. Cassie's dad was sitting in a chair, not looking at anyone, although went Cassie entered the room, he stood up and went to her wordlessly, hugging her and asking if she'd eaten. Marco's dad was leaning against the wall in silence. Four guards were posted around the wall.

Besides Mr. Bostik, the first one to see us was Jake's mom, Aunt Nikki.

"Jake! Tom! What are you two doing here?"

Then they all rushed to us in surprise. The noise was deafening. Everyone was talking over one another. Sarah and Jordan were crying and hugged my legs. Marco's dad, Mr. Ruiz, hugged Marco tightly and asked if he was okay. Mr. Ruiz was scared, more than any of the others. It was easy to understand why.

"Listen, all of you. Please sit down. We need to talk to you about something," Jake said. He was in leader mode. You could hear the authority in his voice. I don't know if the adults noticed it consciously, but they all sat.

"What about the girls?" I asked Jake in an undertone.

"I'll take them," Tom said. "We'll go to the mess and see if they have some ice cream."

Jake nodded. "That's a good idea."

"I'll meet back up with you guys in a little while," Tom said, taking Jordan and Sarah by the hand. "Good luck."

Jake sighed. "We'll need it."

When they left, Jake, Cassie, Marco, and I sat at the table across from our parents. It was strange, with them on one side of the table and us on the other. Like a war council. Well, I supposed it was, in a way.

Director Cord stood in the closed doorway, arms crossed over his chest, watching but not helping.

"Look, this is ridiculous," My mom said. "You can't just go grabbing people from their homes without just cause or a warrant. If you don't let us and our children go right this second, I will sue that expensive pair of pants right off you."

"Mom, chill. We're here by choice," I said.

"That's debatable," Marco muttered. I kicked him. He glared at me.

"Look, Mom, Dad, Aunt Naomi, Uncle Dan, Mr. Ruiz... I... We..." He floundered. "There's something we need to tell you." He gripped his hands tightly on the table and looked very serious. He opened his mouth to speak, gulped, and closed it again.

"Well, go ahead, son," Uncle Greg said.

"Here goes," Jake said under his breath. He sucked in a lungful of air. "Almost two years ago, we met an alien in the abandoned construction site on our way home from the mall. He had crashed to earth after taking fire from an enemy ship. He told us about an alien invasion and gave us the ability to morph into animals in order to fight. We couldn't go to the police or the military because we couldn't be sure who was one of them and who wasn't. We've been fighting them for all this time with our abilities. Us, and our friend Ax, who is also an alien."

He said all this in a single breath. I think he was finally relieved to have said it all coherently. He said back in his chair and breath a heavy sigh of relief.

There was a silence that followed his words. Our parents stared at each other, speechless.

"Look, kids," My dad said. "If you've got yourselves into some kind of trouble, you need to let us know so we can help you. Making up ridiculous alien stories to get out of it doesn't do anyone any good."

"Dan, don't patronize them," My mom said. Oh god, here we go.

"I'm not patronizing them, Naomi, something's going on and their too scared to tell us the truth."

My mom was about to reply hotly, but I undercut her. "We're not scared dad. Well, we are, but we told you the truth," I said.

"If they're making all this up, it's one hell of a prank," Mr. Ruiz said, waving around at the room and guards posted everywhere. "I wouldn't expect this from you, Rachel. Or of you, Jake. Marco, maybe."

"Hey!" Marco shot at his dad, who raised an eyebrow. "Eh... What can I say. The man knows me."

"Look, I want to know why we're here, and I want to know now. I don't want any B.S. alien story," Uncle Greg said. "I want the truth."

"You need to listen to them," Mr. Bostik said quietly to the other adults. He was sitting next to Cassie, holding her hand.

"Come on, Walter," My mom said. "You don't really believe them, do you?"

Mr. Bostik looked at Cassie. "I have plenty of reason to believe them."

"So you buy this whole cockamamie invasion story?" My mom asked. "It's ludicrous."

I was getting mad and frustrated, not in the least of which with my parents. "Cassie, show them," I snapped.

"What? Why me?" She asked, outraged.

"Show us what?" Mr. Ruiz asked.

"Because you're the best at it," Marco said. "We all look gross when we do it. You're the only one who makes it look even half not-weird."

"It's still pretty weird, though," I replied. The rest of us murmured agreement.

Cassie sighed, standing, and her father released her hand. She walked to an area of the room where she would be in plain view of all of our parents. Then started the morph into an osprey. Her fingers melted into feathers and her nose sharpened and extended outward to form a beak. Her body started the process of shrinking down to an osprey's height.

The second it began, our parents exploded out of their seats and against the walls. Even Cassie's dad stood up in alarm. He had been told, but he hadn't actually witnessed a morphing.

"What the hell was that?!" Mr. Ruiz said.

Cassie hastily demorphed back into full human. "That was morphing," she said. "Just like Jake told you."

It took a few minutes to get everyone to sit back down. They were all looking at Cassie like she might grow another head. Which was possible, I admitted ruefully.

"Well," said Mr. Ruiz. "This, uh... This changes things."

"Can all of you do this?" My mom asked me fearfully.

"Yes," I replied, cringing slightly at the repulsed tone she used. "For two years, almost. We've been fighting the Yeerks with these powers as much as we can. But we couldn't do it in any way that would draw attention."

"And Tom?" Aunt Nikki asked. "Is he... like you?"

Jake flinched, but shook his head. "No, Tom was a controller. Until today."

"What's a controller?" Uncle Greg asked.

"A controller is someone who is being controlled by a Yeerk," Marco chimed in. "A Yeerk, since I know you're all about to ask, is a four-inch slug that worms its way into your ear and spreads itself over your brain. It looks through your mind and finds your memories, strengths, and weakness. Then it takes over your body and does whatever it wants to with it. It can convince your family and your friends that there's nothing wrong, that they are you. They could be in your house and under your nose, and you wouldn't even know it." He stole a glance at his father, and looked down at his hands, clutching each other on the table, and screeched to a stop.

The silence this time was more tense. The show and tell earlier had shaken them, and they didn't know what to believe.

"Why would they do such a thing?" My mom asked.

"Because Yeerks, in their natural state, don't have eyes or ears and are completely helpless," I said. "They can't do anything for themselves. They're nearly deaf and little more than a boneless, shell-less mollusk that live in pools. They have to feed every three days on kandrona particles in their pools or they die of starvation. Without controlling another creature, they couldn't do anything; not drive a car, or watch a movie, or say their own name. They have no other abilities besides taking over another creature's mind and body. Without a host, they're nothing."

Cassie looked at her dad, and then back to the other parents. "They think they're entitled to live as full a life as any other creature, and that may be true, but Instead of asking, instead of symbiosis, they just take whatever they want. They think that they have the right to steal and kill in order to have the life they desire, and anyone who stands in their way is killed or infested."

"They're determined to take over Earth because of our numbers," Jake said. He sat straight-backed in his chair with his hands folded in front of him, much like Cord had done when we first arrived. "All the Yeerks that exist could decide to infest a human at the same time and there would still be a two times as many humans left over. They could breed continuously and still have not produced enough Yeerks in ten years to infest us all. Our numbers is what makes us valuable to them. If they get us, the war is over."

His voice hardened. "It's also our numbers that make them afraid of us. They know that they can't openly invade because the massive sum of humanity turned against them would be more than they could handle. They know that we would stop at nothing to destroy them. But they were smart about it. They did it silently, covertly, so that no one who was not a controller would even realize it was happening. No one would believe anyone who started screaming about slugs in the ear. And they took over people in power and in positions of authority, like doctors and teachers, so that no one would be able to help. No one but us." Jake looked at each of our parents pointedly. "We weren't given a choice. We had to fight. Because we were the only ones who could."

After Jakes's speech, the silence was absolute.

"I...don't suppose you have proof of this, too," My dad said.

"Dad!" I yelled.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Director Cord leave the door and walk over to one of the guards, speaking into his ear. The man nodded, and Cord stepped back. The man walked to the table, bent his head, and in less than ten seconds, a small, grey mass wiggled out of his ear.

This time, we all jumped up. Cassie's dad shot back so fast that he knocked three chairs over in an effort to escape.

"You didn't tell us you had controllers here!" I shouted at Cord. "How could you not think that this would be important information?"

"I work in the paranoia business, honey," Cord said. "Even I don't know all the specifics here. Believe it or not, I have superiors to which I report."

The voluntary-controller was standing where he had been before we had reacted. He reached down and put the Yeerk that had come from his ear into a glass and poured water into it.

"If they're your enemies, why is that thing even here?" Uncle Greg asked, revolted.

"I am myself," The man announced. "My name is Corbin Strauss. I was infested involuntarily four years ago. The Yeerk that infested me is the same one who is in that glass, there." He pointed at the glass. "His very first host was a small child. After exiting his head, he believed what his people were doing was very wrong and had become sickened by it. When he entered my head, he told me he wanted to help me. He said he'd rather die than take another unwilling host. I believed him. We left and never went back."

"Several members of the Yeerk peace movement sought asylum with us," Cord said to us. "They said they would help us, work with us, and give us information about current Yeerks in positions of power. Under two conditions: one, we never asked them to harm their own kind, and two, we kept their identities and their controller status a secret. We complied." Cord pointed at Cassie. "She should understand, if none of you others do."

Mr. Bostik looked at her. "Cassie?"

She took a breath and looked around the room. "I met a Yeerk named Aftran who had infested the body of a young girl, the daughter of a rich man. He's the one who renewed our funding last year," She said, looking up at her dad. He blinked. "That time I went missing for three days, that's what happened. She saw me morph and followed me. She was going to take me to Visser Three, but she got injured and I helped her."

She didn't explained the particulars of that incident, for which I was grateful. That was just too much for a single brain to come to terms with, especially if that brain had recently had a Yeerk in it.

"She became a proponent for Yeerk symbiosis. Willing symbiosis. Peace. But I don't know what happened to her," Cassie said regretfully.

"We know of Aftran," Cord said. "We're working on extracting her, but we haven't had much luck. We have narrowed down a location, however."

"If you go to rescue her, I'd like to be part of that mission. I own her that much," Cassie said to Cord.

Cord nodded. "Consider it done."

"Wait a minute, you can't just decide to join military operation, Cassie!" My mom said indignantly. "And you can't expect her to do so, either. Regardless of the fact that they're...well, that they've got...an ability, they're still just children. You can't just expect us to agree to all this. Unless you're somehow unaware of it, it's illegal for children to be doing...anything like this."

I could have slapped my mom just then, but thankfully I didn't have to.

"I'm afraid that little things like legality and age restrictions don't apply here, miss," Cord said. "And, I'm sorry to say it, but those 'children' you're talking about have two years of hard battle experience against the Yeerks. That's more than most of the people employed here. It's an unfortunate reality, but you have to face the fact that it _is _reality. No amount of posturing or over-protectiveness on your part is going to change that. I think at this stage in their lives, they have earned the right to make their own choices."

Aunt Nikki looked at Jake tearfully. "Tom was one of those... He was a controller?"

"Yes," Jake said. "Until a few hours ago. He was the whole reason I decided to fight. I found out a few days after I acquired morphing abilities that he was one of them. I've been trying to free him for two years, but I had to do it in a way that wouldn't get anyone else hurt or infested. It severely limited my options." His eyes were hollow with memory.

"Oh, honey," Aunt Nikki said. "You tried your best."

From the look on Jake's face, this wasn't exactly comforting.

"You mentioned a choice," I said. "I think now would be the time to tell us what that is."

"Yes," Cord said. "I'm giving you three options, here. The fact of the matter is, we only have about one thousand operatives world-wide who know about the invasion. Most of these people are freed-controllers or have family who are controllers. They're all fighting. They're helping us because, like you, they feel like they don't have a choice. We have plenty of soldiers to fight, and communications officers and munitions experts and what have you, but we're sadly lacking on lawyers," he said, indicating my mom. "Or engineers, or veterinarians, or doctors, or even someone to handle the media. We need more than just soldiers to win this war. We need as much help as we can get from all our allies and our assets. And you would all be an asset."

Our parents looked at each other, not sure what to think.

"The second option is that you go back to your own lives and forget today ever happened."

"What?" Mr. Ruiz said. "How are we just supposed to forget about all this? Aren't you afraid that if we are...infested, I don't know, is that what you called it? Aren't you afraid these Yeerks will find out about this place?"

"It's not the option I would want you to choose, I won't lie," Cord said, shrugging. "To be completely honest, though, dismantling this base and moving to a different one would take less and a few days."

"So what's the third option, then?" I asked.

"It's this: we've been working on a Yeerk-free community shielded from view by air and radar. Most of our operatives families, the free ones, live in that community. It has a school, a park, a hospital, a grocery store, even an arcade for the kids to hang out, all kinds of things. We could relocate all of you there and let you live out the rest of the war in relative safety."

Both our parents and us stared at each other.

"Are you serious?" Cassie said in disbelief.

"Very," Cord replied. "I don't want you guys to make the decision right now. You should all take time to think about it and discuss it among yourselves. Talk to your parents and get a good idea of what you really want."

He turned to face the four of us, shutting out our parents for a moment. "Look, I know you guys have been fighting a long time. And I also know that you're tired of it. I don't blame you. You were thrust into this without being asked or giving consent. Whether or not it was right or wrong doesn't matter now. All I'm I'm offering you a chance to make the choice you should have had to begin with."

He put his hand on Jake's shoulder. "Son, you've been carrying a burden for the last two years that should never have been yours to bear. I'm giving you the opportunity to hand that burden to someone who volunteered to do the job."

Jake said down heavily and put his head in his hands. Cassie put an arm around him, but she looked dazed. Marco scrubbed his face with his hand and paced the wall slowly.

This was exactly what Marco wanted. This is what they all wanted. We could go back to being kids. Hand the war to people better suited to fight it. Jake could go back to being a high-school kid on the basketball team and maybe ask Cassie out on a proper date. Mr. Bostik could be the town veterinarian, and Cassie could help him like she used to. Mr. Ruiz could live a quiet life with no danger of Marco getting killed and him going crazy with grief like he had with his wife. It was a perfect solution for everyone.

Except for me. I didn't want to go back to normal anymore. I was in this fight from the moment I met Elfangor and I would be in it until the moment the war was over or I was dead. I admit that there were times in the past where I had questioned the decision to continue fighting, but when I really though about it, I realized that there was no choice for me, not really. I wanted to help make a world in which Tobias could feel safe returning to a human forever. I wanted to make the planet safe for my sisters to grow up without being afraid of being infested or killed for being inferior. I wasn't going to hide out in some super secret clubhouse and just wait for other people to do my job for me.

"I don't need time to think," I said. "I want to fight. I'm in this war till the end of it. I'm offering my services."

"Rachel!" My mom exclaimed.

"Rachel, you can't be serious," My dad said.

"I'm dead serious," I said, looking them in the eye to they could see how serious I really was. "It's just like Cord said. I have two years of battle experience. It doesn't matter that I wasn't given a choice at the time, I've seen and done things that I'll never be able to forget. All four of us here have. All six of us. Seven, actually, if you count Tom. The point is, I'm not the same anymore. And I can't go back to pretending I'm a normal kid, because I'm not. I'm an Animorph, and I will be till the day I die. If I don't use the power I was given to do the right thing, then it was a waste of a gift." I looked at Cassie, Marco, and Jake, who were not looking back at me. "The others can choose however they want. But I'm going to keep fighting."

My parents looked at each other. My mother just shook her head with incredulity. My father inhaled a big, big breath.

"Okay," My dad said.

"What?" I said.

"Okay," He repeated. He looked straight at me. "If you're in, then so am I."

I was in shock. "Dad, no, you and mom and the girls have to go to the community. You'll be safe there."

"I'm not interested in being safe if you aren't," He said. "If you're going to fight, then so will I. I don't know how much use I could be, but surely there's something I can do to help." He looked at Cord.

"Of course, there's a lot a man in your field could-"

I cut Cord off mid-sentence. "No. Don't encourage him. He doesn't realize the magnitude of the decision he's making."

"Dan, really, you're being unreasonable." My mom stepped forward, her arms crossed and her brows down.

"Could we not do this right now?" Dad said to Mom in an undertone. "I know exactly what I'm doing."

"No, Dad, you don't." I was starting to get really upset. Not because I was angry, though I was plenty angry, but because I was scared. It was one thing for me to put myself in harm's way, but I wasn't going to let any member of my family do it. "This is serious. This is a much bigger problem than you realize. You are in more danger than you could even comprehend right now."

"And you're not?" He said, his voice rising. "You're actively placing yourself in danger. How can I not do just as much as you? I respect your choice in this, if what you say is true, then you've earned it, but what your mom said is right. Regardless of what you've achieved, you are still a child and my daughter. It's my job to protect you, no matter that means."

"No!" I yelled. "I'm not going to have you risk your life in some stupid, half-understood bid to protect me. You'll just end up dead, or a controller like Cassie and Marco's moms, and I'm not going to let you do it!"

The second it escaped my lips, I realized I had made a huge mistake. I gasped in my realization and covered my mouth with both hands, looking at Marco. The look of betrayal and horror on his face cut me through to the bone.

"Oh, god, Marco, I'm so sorry," I said. "I didn't mean to say it, it just came out."

"Wha..." Marco's father had been standing under his own power, but after I spoke, I could see him gripping a chair in an effort to stand up straight. His normally olive-skinned tone had drained of color. "What... Why did she... Why..."

"Dad, I can explain..."

Mr. Ruiz rubbed his mouth with a shaking hand. "Your mother... She's dead, right, Marco? Your mom died. She drowned. Tell me that's true, Marco."

"Dad, please..."

"You would have told me if she wasn't, wouldn't you? You wouldn't let me think she was... that she was dead all this time if it wasn't true, would you?"

Marco was shaking. Tears rolled down his cheeks.

"I didn't know at first. I wanted to tell you as soon as I found out," He said, his voice shook terribly. "I really did, Dad, please believe me..."

Mr. Ruiz jerked away from the chair and walked toward the door in a jagged line. "Excuse me, I need to..." He opened the door and fell through it. Marco followed him out, begging him to stop and listen.

I felt like a total fool. A traitor. I wouldn't blame Marco if he hated me forever and never spoke to me again. I couldn't begrudge him that. I would if I were him.

"Walter," Uncle Greg said. "What happened to Michelle? Why isn't she here?" He said this fearfully. Perhaps he hadn't realized she wasn't present until just now.

Mr. Bostik didn't answer right away. "She's one of them now." I said quietly. "She has been for a few months. I was, too, but they freed me today. But they've still got her."

Everyone was quiet. Jake was still sitting with his head in his hands. Cassie stood behind him with her hands on his shoulders. Our parents had a varying array of expressions on their faces. Disgust, terror, disbelief.

"Listen," Cord said into the silence. "This is a lot to take in all at once. And you need time to think about where you want to go from here, I understand that. You're all welcome guests, and will be given quarters to stay in while you're here." He motioned to the guards, except Strauss, who was allowing the Yeerk to re-enter his head. "I'll have these operatives show you to where you may stay. It's getting late, and I'm sure you're all tired. Sleep on it. There is no deadline for you to make your decision; please take your time."

We were taken back to the quarters wing, and each of our families was given a double-bedded quarters. Our parents deposited their hastily packed suitcases on the beds and followed us to the mess hall, where we all ate a late, quiet dinner. We met back up with Tom and my sisters there. As I already had a sleeping space with Cassie, my mother and father took one of my sisters each as a roommate. Marco had not returned, so Tom slept in with Jake. We all made the mutual, unvoiced decision to not discuss anything that had happened until morning. I was grateful.

We went to bed, and Cassie fell asleep almost immediately. I was beyond exhausted, but I couldn't for the life of me drop off to sleep. I tossed and turned for more than three hours before I couldn't take it anymore and got up.

I left my room and knocked on the door to the immediate right of mine. After a moment, Tom answer with rumpled-looking hair.

"Hey, Rachel," He said, squinting against the light of the hallway. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I lied. "Is Jake still up?"

"Yeah, he is, but he's not here. He left earlier when he couldn't sleep. I don't know where he went. Want me to help you find him?"

Seems I wasn't the only insomniac in the compound. "No thanks, Tom. You go back to bed. You need your sleep."

"So do you Rachel," Tom said shrewdly. "So does Jake, for that matter. When you get ahold of him, tell him to go back to bed."

I smiled. "I will. Sleep well, Tom."

I walked the hallway absently, remembering that I didn't know where anything was. I considered morphing and calling to him in thought-speak, but I decided to first check the places that were familiar. I checked the mess, and he wasn't there. He wasn't on the bridge. Finally, I found myself back at the Atrium.

Here, I did morph. The place was simply too large to walk it. As a bald eagle, I took off from the incline and winged my way up to the top of the room. It was tough. I had to keep flapping my wings because there were no thermals to ride, no wind. The lights had been muted to look like stars at night, and there was a brighter light that trekked slowly across the ceiling to give the illusion of the moon.

I saw Tobias on one of the birch trees with his head under a wing. I didn't bother him. Ax was kneeling in a grove of saplings. His stalk eyes followed me as I flew past, but he did not call out to me. Also asleep. Farther back, I observed many Hork-Bajir hanging from trees and propped up against their trunk. All asleep. I saw three largish ponds in the net of trees. Finally, at a fourth one, I saw Jake sitting with his bare feet in the water and his arms around his knees.

I landed and demorphed.

"Hey Rachel," he said, not looking up.

"Hey." I sat down on his right and looked out over the water.

"Tough day," He said.

"Yeah."

"Can't sleep either, huh?"

"Nope." I looked at him sidelong. "You, uh, haven't talked to Marco, have you?"

He shook his head with his chin still on his knees. "No, but I heard from Cord that he and his Dad are staying in their own quarters."

"I...I really messed up. I didn't mean to spill the secret about his mom. It was just the heat of the moment and I couldn't control what came out of my mouth."

"I know that," Jake said. "And I think he knows that, too. He would have had to tell his dad at some point. You just sped up his timetable, that's all. Give him some room to breath and get used to all this. He'll forgive you. Despite all your bickering, you guys are friends."

"I wish I was as optimistic as you," I said dryly.

He laughed through his nose. "I don't think optimistic is an appropriate descriptive of me."

I snickered a little, then we fell quiet. The questions on my mind from earlier that day began to revolve inside my brain again. I opened my mouth to say something, and then shut it again, not knowing how to ask.

"Something on your mind, Rachel?"

I sighed. "This... What happened today, and what Cord said, could change everything."

"Yeah, I know."

"You already know what I want to do. But I don't know what the others want. I mean, I can guess. Cassie doesn't want to fight. And neither does Marco, especially now. And... Well..."

I fell silent, and the not-so-quiet emptiness of the simulated night pressed in on us.

"Is there something you want to ask me?"

Jake was a perceptive person. It's what made him a good leader. He could read a person like a book, assess a situation in a split second, and make a good decision based on all the information available, even if it wasn't good information. He could see what I was saying, but he wanted me to say it myself.

"Are you going to quit?" I asked him.

He raised his head from his knees and looked at me directly for the first time since I arrived.

"You know, if you had asked me that question four hours ago, my answer would have been a resounding yes."

I waited. "But now?"

He blew air out through his nose. "I spend a long time talking with Tom today. I assumed that he would want to go to the community and be safe. Try and live a normal life after having the last four years of it stolen from him. But that's not what he wants. He doesn't want to be safe. He wants to fight, just like you do. And if he's going to fight, it's only right that I do, too."

I exhaled forcefully in my relief. "I can't tell you how good it is to hear that."

Jake smiled. "Tom's going to go to Cord tomorrow and beg for a place on his team. But I don't want him on Cord's team, I want him on mine."

My breath caught in my throat. "What do you mean?"

Jake looked at me seriously. The look in his eyes was a little dangerous. "Tom was one of them for a long time. Way too long. Now that he's free, I think it's about time we made him one of us."


	10. Chapter Nine: Marco

It took hours to calm my dad down. He cried and raged and yelled at me, and I took it. I deserved it. My dad wasn't the type to yell when he was angry; he yelled when he was scared. I sympathized. His anger I could handle, but not his disappointment. Not distrust. It had been him and me against the world for almost four years. I hated to think that I had destroyed his trust in me to protect myself and my friends.

Once he sat down and let me talk to him, I told him everything. Like Cassie did with her dad, I laid it all out for him, beginning to end. I told him about the first time I saw Mom after two years of believing she was dead and learning she was a controller. Every horrible, terrifying second. I told him about the guilt, the shame of not saving her, and the despair I lived and relived every single time I got close to her and had to leave her behind. That part he understood, I'm sure.

The rest of it was still hard for him to except. He asked me to complete a morph, so he could get an idea of what it was really like. I morphed a wolf. I expected him to be grossed out, but he watched from start to finish without expression or comment. I spoke to him with thought-speak, and he asked me detailed questions. He was an engineer, after all. A scientist. His analytical brain took over at some point, allowing him to get past the strangeness of it all and become curious.

I answered him with complete truthfulness and without restraint or hesitation. Cord was right, the time for hiding everything was long past. I told him about the restrictions and the two hour time limit. He wanted to know if it was a permanent part of my physiology now, and I said that it was, as far as I could tell. Ax had never told me otherwise.

He actually cracked a joke when I told him that that weird kid named "No" I'd dragged home a couple of times was really an alien in morph. He said it explained a lot. He even chuckled a bit. I was relieved to hear that. After my mom "died," he couldn't look anyone in the eye or hold a normal conversation. He could barely string two words together, let alone make a funny. His coherency and passable wit definitely reassured me.

Eventually, we both became so tired that we began talking in circles. It was very early in the morning, and my father decided we both needed to sleep. Before we did, Dad hugged me and told me that he still loved me and he didn't blame me, that I was still just a kid and it wasn't my fault. He said there would be time for talk and decisions later. We got into bed and turned the light out. The last thing I heard before I fell asleep was my father telling me he was proud of me. Until then, I didn't realize how much I needed to hear that.

The next morning, we met with the others and their parents in the mess hall. Rachel saw me first and jumped from her seat to apologize again. She even hugged me. That was a first. As Dad passed by to sit with Jake and Tom, I saw him wink and grin at me. I rolled my eyes at him, but I was surprised at how the ire I'd felt for Rachel the night before had evaporated. My father's wellness of mind in the face of all the insanity made me less angry. About everything. Having the most important person in my life know the truth made this whole impossible scenario seem more possible than it ever had. It was the first time I'd ever felt powerful in my own human body. And I liked it.

It was only after I sat down and began obliterating my eggs and toast that I noticed Sapheda in the mess hall also. She was eating the same breakfast as me, sitting with the women who had shadowed her when we first met her... God, was all that only yesterday? It felt like a thousand years ago.

They were talking and laughing. It was strange. If I didn't know Sapheda used to be an Andalite, I'd never have been able to guess. She behaved so normal. Ax was easy to make, because he could not stop himself from eating anything that wasn't nailed to the floor and playing with his words like they were a toy train set. She sat and ate carefully, following the conversation with the women the way any human would. After a moment of staring, she noticed and looked back, smiling. I gave her a nod and went back to my breakfast. I'd just gotten my own life almost figured out, I didn't need to be worrying about anyone else's.

"Sleep on the ground or something, Jake?" My dad, snapping me out of my thoughts. Jake had been quiet throughout breakfast. He looked like he hadn't slept at all, honestly.

"What?" Jake said. He'd been spaced out, staring at nothing. "Oh, no, Mr. Ruiz. Just a lot on my mind, is all." He cleared his throat significantly. "I was thinking we'd all go see Ax and Tobias after breakfast. Meet up like we used to in Cassie's barn."

Uh-oh. I knew what that meant. Something was going on. I hate it when stuff is going on. Stuff tends to be bad.

"Sure, Jake," Cassie replied in a voice too chipper for this hour of the day. She knew something was up too.

"Want to come, Tom?" Rachel asked him over her cereal. This appeared nonchalant, but the weird "something's up" vibe was coming off of her, too. What's happening? We were finally safe, why were we acting like we're about to go on another stupid mission?

"That sounds like fun," Tom said jovially. I don't think he caught the undercurrent. I wished I didn't.

I looked at Jake questioningly. He met my gaze and shook his head minutely. Great. If we couldn't discuss it in front of the folks, it was definitely something to be concerned about.

"In fact," Tom continued. "I think our parents should come with us. They should meet Ax and Tobias. There's a lot about this that they still don't understand."

Rachel and Jake shared a pointed look. Jake shifted his gaze to Cassie and she nodded ever so slightly. I was beginning to feel out of the loop, here.

"Who?" Mr. Greg said.

"They're friends who have been fighting with us for the past two years," Cassie said.

"Are they both like you?" Mr. Dan asked.

I had to laugh. "There are just so many ways to answer that question."

"The short answer is both yes and no," Jake said. He didn't elaborate. All he did was sigh. "It'll be easier to explain when you meet them."

"Where are their parents?" Mrs. Nikki asked.

We all shared a look with each other. You could almost taste the exasperation.

"One's parents are dead, and the other's parents...live far away," Rachel said obliquely.

"Real far away," I said with a snicker.

When breakfast was over, all of us, Rachel's sisters included, marched down to the Atrium. It was actually kind of nice to be back here. You could almost forget that you are miles underground with only flimsy steel and concrete separating you from thousands of tons of dirt which could come crashing down on you at any available minute.

Ah, optimism.

"Rachel, why don't you morph and find Ax and Tobias for us?" Jake asked her. She nodded and morphed.

I watched the faces of our parents closely. My dad watched curiously, and I noticed Cassie's dad did, too, but the others couldn't quite keep the revulsion from their faces. Rachel's sisters were pretty fascinated, though.

Rachel took off and was soon out of sight.

"I don't know if I'll ever be able to get used to that," Ms. Naomi said.

"Hey, try not to think of it as weird," I said. "More like your kid's a superhero. Emphasis on the 'hero' part."

Ms. Naomi suddenly seemed pensive. Rachel's little sisters looked awestruck.

"Is Rachel really a superhero?" The oldest one asked me. Which one was she? Sarah or Jordan?

"Yup," I said. "Better than Batman. Better than Spiderman. Maybe not as good as Superman, though."

"Who's Spiderman?" The younger one asked.

My mouth fell open in outrage. "Who's Spiderman? What are they teaching kids in school these days?"

Jake shook his head. "Marco, really not the time."

"When is the time for the youth of our nation to learn about such iconic American heroes, then, eh?"

"Sarah is only in preschool, Marco, I doubt they're teaching 'superheroes 101.' Don't listen to him," Cassie said the the girls. "He thinks monuments should be erected in honor of the X-Men in every major city."

"Well, they should!" I shot back.

Cassie just smirked and shook her head at me.

"Maybe not all of the X-Men, though," I said thoughtfully. "Just the most pertinent ones. Like Professor X and Wolverine. And Emma Frost. Lots of statues of Emma Frost."

I thought Cassie was going to say something about my misogyny, but Jake overrode her by saying, "Look sharp. Incoming."

I looked up and saw two birds of prey winging their way toward us, a bald eagle trailed by a red-tailed hawk. I didn't see Ax, though.

The two birds landed right in front of us and began to demorph. Within minutes, two blonde teens stood before us in skin tight outfits, one dirty blond and the other slightly taller bright blonde.

"Dad, various other parentages, this is our friend and fellow freedom fighter, Tobias," I said.

Rachel held her arms out as though presenting some sort of treasure. Tobias merely nodded awkwardly. His sharp features were a little unnerving, especially as he had a tendency to stare without blinking.

"I remember you," Jake's dad said. "You came to the house a couple times, oh, ages ago. You looked...different."

I didn't doubt it. Before the change, Tobias was just a clumsy, shrimpy dweeb who walked hunched over with his head down, like he expected to be attacked. He had good reason for that, because he got beat up by bullies on a regular basis. It's kinda the only reason he hung around Jake, because Jake was a big guy and looked out for him. That and he was probably lonely. The guy's life was like a soap opera, and not even a good one with girls fighting over him. More like the ones where the main character gets orphaned and then trapped in a coma, then manages to get paralyzed and/or blinded and just can't seem to escape the despair of his own life.

Now, his human body wasn't much different, but he carried himself in a completely different manner. He stood rail-straight and walked sure-footed. He was broad-shouldered and confident. He seemed taller, but that was only because he didn't walk like a hunchback anymore. His face was a mask without expression, except for his eyes. They were always fierce and angry, regardless of what he was actually feeling. I imagined he looked rather rough to the adults, because they all took a step back whenever he took a step forward.

"I was different," Tobias said. "A lot has changed since then."

"I guess so," Mr. Greg said distantly. "What do your parents think about this?"

I groaned internally. Not the most sensitive man, was Jake's dad. You'd think a doctor wouldn't be so blunt.

Tobias simply smiled, or attempted to smile, but the result was something resembling sorrow. "My mom disappeared a few years ago, and my dad..." He stopped smiling, and the expressionless mask returned. "My father, were he still alive, would be proud of me. Prouder than he could ever say."

That left everyone pretty much speechless. Rachel took a step closer to Tobias, something that was not lost on her parents. Her mother frowned, but her father watched them reflectively.

In the awkward airlessness of that minute, we heard in our heads, ~Prince Jake, is it safe to emerge?~

All of our parents jumped except for my dad. He had heard me use thought-speak last night for almost an hour. He knew what it was. The others didn't.

"What was that?!" Mr. Greg yelled.

"That's thought-speak," My dad said. "It's how people who are in morph communicate with each other."

The other adults stared at him in a sort of horrified shock. It was all I could do not to burst out laughing.

"Just a second, Ax," Jake called loudly. He turned back to our parents. "Look," He said. "Our friend Ax is...unusual. He's an alien, the one we told you about. But he's not like Star Trek aliens. He doesn't look like humans painted blue with stuff glue to them. He's...well, see for yourself."

He walked down the incline to the treeline and seemed to talk to the shadows between the trees. After a moment or two, he turned and walked back up the incline with Ax following him. In his own body. There was a collective gasp from all of the adults behind us, mine and Cassie's dad included. Despite being a controller, I don't think Mr. Bostik had ever seen an Andalite in person, especially if he had been working for Visser One and not Visser Three.

"Wow," Mrs. Nikki said.

"No kidding," My dad said, whistling.

"Horsey!" Sarah said.

"That's not a horse, Jordan," Sarah said. "It's an Andalite."

Sarah's face said that she obviously did not see the difference. Please, please God, let her try to pet Ax. Please. Just give me that one thing.

Jake and Ax came walking up and stopped in front of our parents.

"Ax, everybody. Everybody, Ax," Jake said.

~It is a pleasure to be acquainted with all of you again, parents of my human friends,~ Ax said pleasantly.

"Again?" Echoed Jake's dad. "I think I would have remembered meeting a...whatever you are."

~I am an Andalite,~ Ax said. ~And we have indeed met before.~

"Maybe you know him as 'No,'" My dad said, giggling.

"What?" Rachel's mom said.

Tom was watching this exchange and laughing behind his hand. I was starting to like him a little more than I used to. I mean, he was always Jake's brother, and I liked him well enough before he was a controller. But now that he was himself again, I thought he was really a guy I could get along with. He enjoyed a good joke, and you can't hate a guy like that.

"Ax, just morph," Jake said wearily.

~Morph into what, Prince Jake?~ He asked.

"Human," Jake almost growled. He was on edge. I was suddenly getting the "something's up" feeling again.

Ax morphed into his human morph, the strange mixture of Cassie, Jake Rachel, and me. I have to say, the part of him that was me was very attractive. The rest of it, not so much. Well, maybe the part that was Rachel. But that wasn't his fault.

"You!" Cassie's dad said. "You used to come to the house all the time. I always thought you were just really weird; I never thought you were an alien."

Ax looked pleased with himself. "Your children often thought that I was not assimilating properly. But even you acknowledge that I appeared human." He turned to us. "You see? I'm only really weird."

"That's not-" Mr. Bostik began, but Cassie put her hand on his shoulder.

"Just let him have that, Dad," she said with a smile.

Ax demorphed. Jordan walked up to him and he blinked down at her.

"You're a talking horsey," Sarah said with the perfect certainty of a four year old. "Rachel said you're not, but you are."

Wasn't that just adorable?

~Slight correction, human child,~ Ax said tolerantly. ~I am an Andalite, a evolved race of beings that-~

"Can I pet you?"

I laughed. For quite a long time. Sweet baby Jesus, thank you. Thank you so much.

Ax was perplexed. ~I would rather you didn't.~

"Please?"

"Sarah, he's not a pet," Rachel said reproachfully. She lifted Sarah onto her hip. "Why don't you shake his hand instead?"

Sarah made a face, but she stuck out her hand. Ax, clearly bemused, shook it. Both Mr. Dan and Ms. Naomi were watching with that 'I'm so proud of my kid' look on their face. All the parents were watching like it was the cutest thing they'd ever seen.

"Why do you have so many fingers?" Sarah asked.

Ax smiled his smile that was just his eyes. ~Why do you have so few?~

Sarah looked stumped, then shrugged. "I dunno."

"Can I shake his hand?" Jordan asked.

Ax stuck out his hand again, smiling, and Jordan shook it. I would swear I heard someone say "aww" in the background.

"Alright, this is getting too sappy for me to handle," I said. "Back to business. Ax, explain about Andalites and the war. Keep it as...succinct as possible."

Ax went off on his explanations. During which, Tobias demorphed. When asked why, we had to explain about what happened to him and the two hour time limit. All of the parents were freaked out about the possibility of one of us becoming trapped in a morph. A lot of comments were said, though they were trying to express their dismay without managing to offend Tobias. They weren't managing well.

"It's a lot to think about," Jake said. "I know. It seems like you guys were thrust into this as suddenly as we were. I'm sorry about that. At least we have more choices now."

"About that," Jake's dad said seriously. "Rachel made her choice. What about you? What about the rest of us?"

There was silence for a moment.

"I'm staying."

My dad said that. My dad.

"What?" I said to him. "You're not going to go to the settlement?"

"Of course not, Marco. I'm an engineer. Do you know how useful I could be here? You heard what Cord said; all they have is soldiers. They need engineers. And besides," He sucked in a long breath. "I want... I want to be there the moment you're mom is free. And I want to be the one who helps do it. There's nothing in the world I want more."

My throat closed up. What could I say to that?

"I'd... I'd like it if you were here, too, but I also want you to be safe. If you decide to go to the settlement, then I'll support you. If you want to stay here and fight, I'll support that, too. If you want to stay and not fight, that's even better. But whatever you decide, I'll accept it. You're a man now, whether I like it or not. More of a man than me. Whatever you want, I'm with you." His voice cracked a little. "I know your mom would be as proud of you as I am."

The only response I had to this was to walk over and give him a hug. The knowledge that I was free to make any choice I wanted took so much pressure off of me. After two years with my head underwater, I could finally breathe again.

"I'm staying, too," Tom said.

"So am I," Jake seconded.

I wasn't surprised, truthfully. Their parents faces showed, for lack of a better word, heartbreak. But what could they say? Their children had been fighting, in one way or another, longer than they cared to think about. How could they refuse them? What right did they have?

"Can we talk about this later?" Mr. Greg pleaded.

"We can," Tom said. "But it won't change our minds. We have to."

"You don't have to, Tom," His mom said. "You've finally got a choice."

"No, I don't. I stopped having a choice when they put a slug in my head."

There was nothing they could say to that. The panic in their eyes was obvious.

"We can talk about it later," Jake said. "Right now, we need to have a meeting. I mean, the seven of us kids. Not counting Sarah and Jordan."

Cassie's dad, Rachel's dad, and my dad all nodded understanding, but the other three parents were not happy at all.

"Later," Jake's mom said firmly.

They all left. Sarah was visibly disappointed and asked Ax if She could play with him later. He clearly did not know how to answer this question.

After they were safely gone, Jake scrubbed his face. "That could have gone better."

"Could have gone worse, too," Tom said. "Look on the bright side, they didn't shut us down entirely."

"I thought it went well," I said. "I can't believe my dad is so cool with all this. And you!" I said, indicating Tom. "Who'd have thought you'd be all gung-ho and want to join up? I figured you'd be ready to get out."

"Yeah, about that," Jake said, sounding like his dad. "I had an idea last night that I want to share with you guys. I want to ask your opinions. Rachel already knows and thinks it's a good idea, and I'm sure she told Cassie, but I haven't talked to anyone else, not even Tom."

Tom looked curious, and so did Ax. I think.

"I think it's a good idea, Jake," Cassie said.

"Alright, what's a good idea?" I asked.

Jake exhaled. "What do you guys think about making Tom one of us? An Animorph?"

Tom's look of shock was mirrored by myself and Ax. I'm sure Tobias would have had it on his face, too.

"What do you think, Tom?" He asked his brother anxiously.

"I..." Tom began. "I don't know what to say. I'm really honored."

"That's cool, but is it a good idea? Do you want to be one of us?" Jake said.

Tom scrubbed his hair with his hand and took several deep breaths. "I...yeah. Yeah, I really do."

"Tobias, what do you think?"

~I think, welcome to the team, Tom.~ Tobias said without hesitation.

Tom smiled. "Thanks, Tobias."

"You already know what me and Cassie think," Rachel said. Cassie nodded in agreement. Tom hugged both her and Cassie instead of thanking them.

"Ax, the Escafil device belonged to your brother. I want to know what you think." Despite saying this, Jake folded his arms and looked rather forbidding.

~What happened with David has made me cautious about creating more morphing humans. But I have always believed that we need more warriors to win this war. If you vouch for your brother's integrity, Prince Jake, I will trust your word,~ He said. ~If not for your brother, then for mine.~

Ax then turned to Tom. "But Jake is my Prince. I will not take orders from you.~

Jake opened his mouth, but Tom said quickly. "Oh, I'm not the leader, here. This is Jake's show. I'm happy to follow him." He had an uneven smirk.

Jake ducked his head gratefully. Then he looked at me. "What about you, Marco?"

I was quiet for a minute, collecting my thoughts. "Well, there's this," I started. "We got burned with David, but that wasn't our fault. Not really. We picked a bad one because we didn't have a choice. We know Tom pretty well, but being a controller will have changed him. I don't know how much of that change will be good and how much of it will be bad."

"Real nice, Marco," Rachel hissed at me.

"No, he's right," Tom said. "I used to be a good kid before this whole thing started. And now...to be honest, even I don't know who I am now. But I'd rather find out with you guys than on my own."

"Exactly," I said. "And the other point I was going to make, before Rachel interrupted me, is that he has a wealth of knowledge about the Yeerks that could be valuable to us. Which is reason enough to make him an Animorph."

"So you're saying yes?" Jake asked.

"I'm saying yes," I said. "Animorphs all the way."

Jake smiled. For the first time since Tom was free, he grinned and hugged me.

"How can we get the cube here, though?" Cassie asked. "He have to find some way to contact Erek."

We had left the cube with the Chee while Cassie was in hiding with them. It seemed like the best option. The cube didn't work on non-biological organisms, so the Chee couldn't use it. And unless the controllers found out and attempted to take it by force, which wasn't likely, no one could get to it. As long as they kept it away from the dogs, it was safe.

"Perhaps I could help," A voice said behind us. We turned and saw Sapheda walking toward us. "I'm sorry, I couldn't help but overhear. I can get a message out to anyone you wish. A heavily encrypted one. Assuming your contact will be able to decipher it."

Cassie snickered. "That shouldn't be a problem. When can you get the message out?"

"Immediately. All I need to know is what to say," She said pleasantly.

"We need to get a message to some allies of ours," Jake said. He gave Sapheda the address. "Do you want to write anything down?"

Sapheda smiled. "I think I can manage. What will the message say?"

"We need them to bring us the cube," Jake said.

Sapheda stopped smiling. "Cube? As in an Escafil device?"

"Yes," Jake said. "Is that a problem?"

She looked around her, though we were alone. "I don't think this is a good place for it to be kept," She said seriously.

"Why?" Cassie said.

"Because there are many here who are desperate to get their hands on one," She replied. "They've known about morphing for a while now and will take any opportunity to find a way to appropriate it."

"They would steal the Escafil device?" Ax asked, astonished.

"They wouldn't see it as theft," Sapheda said. "In the same way that Yeerks don't see what they do as theft. They believe they would be doing the right thing for their own people."

"So you're comparing humans to Yeerks," Rachel said angrily.

"I'm not judging anyone for anything," Sapheda said. "I'm just trying to warn you. Bringing the Escafil device here is not safe for anyone. Humans are not ready for this technology."

"What about us," I said. "We've been doing fine."

"Yes, now," She said. "But were you ready when you first acquired the power?"

No one had a response for that.

"So what do we do?" Jake said.

"If you're determined to bring it here, I can keep it safe for a short time. But after that, you must find something to do with it."

"You?" Rachel said. "Why should we let you keep it?"

"Because I'm the only one who can't use it," She said simply.

~She has a point,~ Ax said.

Jake rubbed his neck. "Is there a safe way to get it into and out of the compound?"

"Yes," Sapheda said. "I helped design this place. I made several secret way in and out in case something happened or we were infiltrated. I can guarantee that one of them, at least, is not monitored."

"Why should we trust you more than Cord?" I asked.

"I'm not saying you should," She said. "Cord helped me and took me in, and he's extremely well-intentioned. He's not the one you want to to worry about. If you gave Cord a reasonable explanation as to why using the device would be a bad idea, he would reconsider. But he doesn't have any family who are controllers. Most of the other people here do, and they would do anything it takes to free their families." She looked at us all pointedly. "I mean, anything."

I could understand that sentiment, but she was right. Humans just weren't ready for this kind of power.

"This is what we do," Jake said. "Send the message. Show us the secret way out. We use the cube to make Tom one of us."

"And after that?" Cassie said.

Jake sighed. "We'll decide that when we cross that road, but for now, one thing at a time. First priority, get the cube here. All else after."

It took three days for Erek to get to New Mexico. He came himself because we knew him the best and he didn't trust to send it with anyone else. We got a message through Sapheda that he had arrived and she led us to the secret passage.

"It took a while to shake my guards," Sapheda said. "They're sweet girls, but they take their job way too seriously."

~It's strange that, with your powers, Cord saw fit to assign you bodyguards,~ Ax said. We were all in a lift that rose swiftly.

"He didn't," She replied. "They are two of the women I freed when I escaped from the Yeerk facility three years ago. They joined the Division before I was ever found. Once I was found and recruited, they asked to be reassigned as my personal detail. I guess they feel like they owe me something, but I'm just happy they're alive and still free."

"Who's running this place, you or Cord," I asked.

She merely laughed.

The lift stopped at a platform with steps leading up to the surface. Sapheda went up and pressed her palm against the pad next to the bay door. It opened, and we ascended to the surface. It was warm and late in the evening, and the sun was setting.

"Erek said he would be here by now," Cassie said.

"Over here," We heard a voice say. We say a large deer walk out of the treeline, which then changed into a boy about our age.

"Hey, Erek," Jake said.

"Hey guys," Erek replied. "Am I glad to see you. Do you know what a scare we got when you didn't return? And then your parents up and disappear. You kind of freaked us all out, you know." He saw Sapheda and tilted his head curiously. "Who's she?"

"That's Sapheda. She's a friend. And sorry for scaring you," Cassie said. "Our parents are here. We got found out by a group of military people that-"

"You mean the Division? Yeah, we know."

We shared a look. "How do you know about-" I started.

Erek cut me off. "Come on, Marco. There's very little that we don't know."

"Let me guess," I said. "You've got at least one person in the Division."

"Correct," Erek said.

"Why didn't you tell us about this, then?" Rachel said.

"What would you have done?" Erek asked us. "Division doesn't operate in our home town, even though there are operatives there. Most of their focus is in the east, around Washington. We didn't think they'd be working this far west."

"Let it go, Rachel, it doesn't matter now," Jake said. Rachel subsided with difficulty. "Did you bring it?"

Erek nodded and reached into his pocket. The blue box lay in his hand, glowing.

Jake stepped forward and took it from Erek's hand. Then handed it to Ax. Ax held the box out to Tom.

Tom stepped forward, hesitating.

~Place your hand on the box,~ Ax directed.

Tom did so, and the box glowed more brightly. We all felt the energy radiating off of the cube as Tom received the same power we all now had. After a moment, it dimmed, and Tom took his hand away.

Tom frowned. "I don't feel any different."

~Try to acquire something,~ Tobias instructed.

"Like what?" Tom asked.

~Hang on,~ Tobias said, and took off. After a minute or two, he returned with a field mouse. ~Try that.~

Tom caught the mouse in his hand, and looked at us, confused. "How?"

"Concentrate on it," Rachel said. "Think about absorbing the mouse into your DNA. Becoming part of you."

Tom took a deep breath and concentrated. It happened fairly quickly. The mouse stopped moving and breathed slowly.

"What's happening to it?" Tom asked.

"It's in a trance," Jake said. He was excited, eager. You could see it in his face. "It'll come out of it in a few seconds."

Sure enough, the mouse eventually recovered and squirmed out of Tom's hold.

"Now what?" He asked.

"Think about the mouse," Rachel said.

"That's it? 'Become the mouse'?"

"Essentially," Jake said. "A word to the wise, once you're morphed, the animal's instincts try to take over. Don't let it. It's going to be hard the first time, because you're not used to it. It can be pretty overwhelming. Just do the morph and come back out. No antics."

"You got it, little brother," Tom said, closing his eyes. Soon, he began to shrink. His arms sucked up into the side of his body until they were tiny and clawed. He bent over as his legs gave way and hit the ground on his stomach.

"He's doing it!" Jake said in an excited whisper.

"Don't distract him," Rachel said, also whispering.

Tom completed the morph without incident. For a moment, he stood very still.

"Tom, are you okay?" Jake asked.

Suddenly, Tom was off at a run.

"Catch him!" Jake cried frantically.

~I can't see where he went, it's too dark!~ Tobias said.

"I got him," Erek said.

"Careful not to hurt him," Sapheda said.

"Couldn't if I tried," Erek called back, his hand snaked out to snatch at the grass. He pulled himself upright, clutching a field mouse in his right hand.

"Tom," Jake said loudly. "I thought I said no antics. Morph out."

"Maybe he can't understand you," Rachel said. "Tobias, you try."

~Tom, I know it's a bit confusing, but you got to try and get a grip,~ Tobias said. "Morph out."

It took us all talking Tom out of the morph before he was able to do it, and even then it was more than an hour. Finally Tom sat in the grass with a bewildered look on his face.

"Jeez," he said in a rushed breath. "Is it always that crazy?"

"Just about," I commiserated. "At least you didn't have to morph something really hard."

"That wasn't really hard?" Tom said. Shrieked, more like.

We helped Tom his feet and our eyes fell upon the cube.

"Okay," Sapheda said. She put out her hand to Ax, and he gave her the cube. "Now what is it you want to do with this?"

Jake squinted at it in the low light. "Ax, what do you think?"

~I will respect your wishes, Prince Jake, whatever they may be,~ Ax said. "But I agree with Sapheda. This is not a technology humans are ready for.~

"Do you guys agree?" Jake asked the rest of us.

Did I? I wasn't sure. There were plenty of people I thought could handle it. But then again, it only takes one to ruin it for everyone.

~It's too dangerous,~ Tobias said. ~For it's limitations, if nothing else.~

"I agree," Cassie said. "And if we can't be sure who to trust, it's better if no one has it."

Rachel looked unsure, but she said. "They're right."

"Tom?"

Tom shook his head. "The Yeerks would kill a whole lot of people if they knew one of these things was on Earth. It's way too dangerous for anyone to have."

"What about you, Marco?" Jake asked me.

I thought about it. "Is this the only Escafil device there is?" I asked Ax.

~Of course not,~ Ax replied. ~There are approximately 150 Escafil devices in existence. There are entrusted to the highest ranking officials of the Andalite military. Civilians wishing to obtain the ability to morph must petition the official in their province.~

"So, if something happened to this one, it wouldn't shut the whole operation down," Jake said.

~No, certainly not.~

Jake stared at the cube in Sapheda's hand for a long, long moment. He then looked at me. I just nodded.

"Okay," Jake said. "Then we're agreed. We have to destroy it."


End file.
